A group representing family doctors in Guelph is using Bell Let’s Talk Day to sound the alarm about a shortage of psychiatrists working in the area, causing some patients to wait over a year for psychiatric diagnoses and treatment plans.
The Guelph Family Health Team (Guelph FHT) is calling on the provincial and federal governments to come to the table with funding to support the recruitment of 10 additional psychiatrists to the Guelph-Puslinch area.
Ross Kirkconnell, executive director of the Guelph FHT, said leading experts in the field recommend a ratio of one community psychiatrist for every 10,000 citizens.
“We are about one for every 30,000,” said Kirkconnell.
Local family doctors spend about one third of their time caring for patients with mental health and addictions issues, said Kirkconnell.
“We have some psychiatry available at the Family Health Team and there’s some available at the Community Health Centre and some at the Canadian Mental Health Association, the university, but a really limited amount,” said Kirkconnell. “We use it very judiciously.”
Dr. Will Ruddock, board chair of the Guelph FHT, said he believes the community is in crisis.
“Guelph family doctors, nurse practitioners and other clinicians do their best daily to support local residents needing support with mental health and addictions. We need Community Psychiatry support with diagnostics, medication advice and ongoing care,” said Ruddock.
Kirkconnell said there are currently about five psychiatrists supporting the Guelph-Puslinch area, which has a population of about 150,000.
“We are a pretty well-off community in Guelph, we have a lot of resources — great health care facilities and all of that. But this is a big gap in our community,” said Kirkconnell.
Family doctors do the best they can to diagnose and provide treatment plans to people with mental illness or addictions, said Kirkconnell.
“It might be drugs, it might be exercise and diet, it might be a variety of things — and sometimes that is fantastic and it works, but sometimes I doesn’t. When it doesn’t, you query what is going on and that’s when you need some help,” said Kirkconnell.
Due to the shortage of psychiatrists working in the area, Guelph FHT said local residents can often wait over a year for a diagnosis or treatment plan if referred to a psychiatrist.
“The people that really have us stumped are the people that we refer to psychiatry, but the reality is a lot more people could use that kind of expertise — particularly around diagnosis, around medication management and good treatment plans,” said Kirkconnell.
Family physicians from Guelph FHT worked together with the Guelph Community Health Centre and Student Health Services at the University of Guelph to learn about the gaps in the local health care delivery.
To fill that gap, Guelph FHT is seeking $1.2 million to recruit and fund 10 psychiatrists to the Guelph-Puslinch area, said Kirkconnell.
Guelph FHT is looking to the provincial and federal governments to fund the initiative.
Kirkconnell said the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network will be key partners.
“Whenever it’s tax dollars, we have to be careful about how we spend them. There’s a very strong belief that if we get this funding for psychiatry we can make a big difference in a lot of system issues,” said Kirkconnell. “We believe local communities are best to advise the government as to what our community needs.”
“Sounding the alarm or raising awareness is important — and Bell Let’s Talk Day is a great day to do that,” he added.
