Primary Care should be the bedrock of healthcare in Canada

Health matters to everyone. In Canada, healthcare accounts for over a third of provincial, territorial and local government spending. So how do we decide where to invest all of these resources? We all want to be healthy and well. Still, our health priorities at any given time depend on our individual circumstances. For example:
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- The attention of a cancer patient is on managing the disease. Will they have quick access to care, diagnosis and modern treatment? Is new research being prioritized?
- The experience of a fertility patient revolves around interventions, protocols and outcomes. Will this result in a live, healthy birth? How will it be financed?
- An Alzheimer's diagnosis is accelerating a move to long term care. Will it be a traumatic transition from home?
-Faced with another orthopaedic surgery to repair the damage done on the mountain. How will this impact work and family?
- The all consuming struggle of addiction. What intervention will have a positive impact?
- Food insecurity and the mental and physical impacts of lacking basic nutrition. Can these baseline needs be met in order to focus on other aspects of life?

These topics are consistently among our top stories in Canada, and they are a few examples of the complexity and range of needs. It is not possible to gain consensus on what should be prioritised; we can’t focus exclusively on one and ignore the rest. But we do know that all of the above will function more effectively with a strong primary care system.

Primary care is old school preventive health. Its purpose is to keep us well, help us identify and manage symptoms, and keep us out of hospitals and other institutional settings wherever possible. It is also a window into equity and social determinants of health. Delivered effectively, primary care treats the whole person, at every age and stage.

Ultimately, primary care should be the bedrock of the Canadian healthcare system. If we don’t fix it and make it stronger, all of the other parts of our system will continue to get more difficult (at best) or completely fail (at worst). True system reform requires focus, consistent assessment of what is working and not working, and adjusting based on what we’ve learned. At 13% of our GDP, where we invest should matter to all of us, whether we are actively engaging with our health system or not.