December 7, 2015 – Today the Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario released two new statements as part of members’ ongoing work to improve access and integration of care in a sustainable health system. These two statements respond to and build on recent reports:
- AFHTO response to the Expert Advisory Committee’s recommendations on population-based primary health care for Ontario – primary care teams have the leadership and willingness to step up
- Transitioning care coordination resources to primary care – bringing greater system efficiency and patient-centredness by transferring this function from CCACs
Related statements include:
- Optimizing the value of and access to team-based primary care – an evidence-informed statement released last June
- The Starfield Principles – aimed at optimizing performance by measuring quality, capacity and total health system cost of care
Family Health Teams (FHTs) and Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinics (NPLCs) have the leadership, dedication and willingness to step up to play their part in building a primary care system that understands and meets the needs of our patients and communities. Throughout the transformation process, they want to be heard, valued, and supported to succeed – above all else, with sufficient funding to stabilize the workforce and ensure sufficient capacity to deliver quality care. Furthermore, AFHTO members call upon the Ministry to begin the process of transitioning care coordination resources from CCACs to primary care teams. The Ministry must work with primary care teams, LHINs, hospitals and other stakeholders to transfer all functions currently carried out by CCACs to the most appropriate bodies, to achieve greater efficiency and integration in care delivery. Population-based primary care and integrated care coordination are predicated on the availability of and access to primary care teams – currently limited to about one in four Ontarians. To spread access, AFHTO recommends the Ministry continue and strengthen its support for the field to:
- Develop common understanding and measurement of population needs and team capacity.
- Harness the will and expertise of local champions to spread team capacity in their communities, recognizing that different strategies and solutions will emerge to meet unique local realities.
- Expand access where:
- Capacity is sufficiently developed to manage additional demand without decreasing quality of care, and
- Physicians are ready to commit to minimum requirements for meaningful collaboration and communication with the team.
Advances by AFHTO members to measure results, through the Starfield Principles, are guiding the way to understand and assure progress toward government’s priorities of access, quality, and system sustainability. AFHTO policy positions can be accessed here. We look forward to working with the Ministry, LHINs, patients, communities, and health system colleagues to improve health and health care.