Dao
Green Belt
You're right, Canada does not have enough doctors.....and it's a shame.
The idea behind the walk-in clinic is to help as many people as they can.....and it's not because they make a bucket load of cash doing it. The problem is, most people do not want to book an appointment to go and see their GP if they have the sniffles....they waste the time of a walk in clinic so the doctor there can tell them they have the sniffles and not prescribe antibiotics because they arent indicated, only to have the patient pull a medical degree out of their backside and tell them they need antibiotics.
From what I hear they make more money in walkin clinic than as a GP. I even argued with one. He wouldn't do any test I required or any follow up. This other doctor did prescribe me antibiotics which he isn't suppose to do in a walkin clinic.
I know they get paid by paid per visit. so the faster you work and get more patients throughout the day the more money they make. That's why they usually have a time limit with patients, both for walkin clinic or GP. Also as a GP I hear they don't get paid for the follow up. I don't know if that's true or not. But going to a walkin clinic is basically waste of time unless it's something really minor.
If we had enough GP in Ontario there wouldn't be long wait times at the hospitals either. I remember waiting about 8 hours at the hospital. A person with a heart attack can wait up to 6 hours.