Friday August 30, 2024 | LANGFORD, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
If you’re a resident in the west shore area who has tried to get an appointment by phone with the West Shore Urgent Primary Care Centre (UPCC) you may already be familiar with what you hear.
You’re trying to get into your local UPCC because you need some health-care and you don’t have a family doctor.
UPCCs are owned and operated by the Island Health Authority (under the purview of BC Health and the BC Government).
Efforts to make an appointment:
See below for what the caller hears when phoning to get an appointment. The monotone voice delivery feels like a very long run-on sentence.
It’s an odd way to greet people who are probably ill and hoping for a same-day appointment.
For sure, a phone-in system for appointment bookings is far better than the previous system of being asked to wait in line outdoors for possibly hours (especially in bad weather, let alone the early hour of morning before the clinic opens at 8 am), only to be turned away after just a few people manage to ‘get lucky’ in their quest for an appointment. It’s hard to believe that previous system was even in place, let alone last for so many years.
There are so few doctors to staff the UPCCs across the region, which means fewer appointment openings.
Here’s the voice message:
Meanwhile, call this a Communications 101 exercise. How does this voice message make you feel as you’re waiting for medical care? This message comes across as one long run-on sentence during which it’s easy to miss some details on the first try:
UPCC VOICE MESSAGE (2 minutes):
“Welcome to the West Shore Urgent & Primary Care Centre, located at unit 104-582 Goldstream Avenue. If this is an emergency please hang up now and call 9-1-1 or go to your nearest emergency department. If you know the extension of the person you would like to reach, please enter it now. If you would like to book a a same-day appointment or speak with reception staff please press 1. If you would like to cancel … //. [Press 1].
Please be aware that we experience heavy call volumes before 10 am. Your hold time may be up to one hour. If we are unable to answer your call in one hour you may be disconnected. Our phone system has a limited amount of lines that can be placed on hold. Please note, given our call volumes, being placed in the queue does not guarantee an appointment today. Our physicians’ appointments book up quickly. But please ask us about our nursing appointments. [Music for 2 seconds]
Sorry, our phone lines are at capacity assisting other patients. If this is an emergency please hang up now and call 9-1-1 or go to your nearest emergency department. Please try your call again later. You will now be disconnected. [Click].”
No effort for attachment to clinic or doctor:
There’s no opportunity to ask about those nursing appointments, or to possibly get onto a wait list.
Even if you do get an appointment there is no attempt to ‘attach’ you to the clinic or match you with a doctor. You’re just asked (for the umpteenth time) if you’ve added your name to the BC Health Connect Registry.
If a patient pushes for better appointment access, they will be told that the UPCCs can’t possibly attach patients to clinics as the roster would be full right away and there would be no room in the schedule for any new patients at any time.
This is the state of health-care today.
Prioritizing patient needs including timely care that is aligned with expenditures and measurable patient outcomes is probably the way for BC health-care to move forward.
UPCCs in the Greater Victoria area:
There are six Island Health UPCCs in the Greater Victoria area.
- James Bay UPCC – Victoria
- Downtown/Pandora UPCC – Victoria
- Gorge UPCC – Victoria
- North Quadra UPCC – Saanich
- Westshore UPCC – Langford
- Esquimalt UPCC – Esquimalt
This editorial analysis of the BC health-care system was first published in the August 23, 2024 print edition of the biweekly Island Social Trends.
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