Information
June 2003
Primary Health Care
Primary health care is the foundation of the health care system. When Canadians need health
care, most often they turn to front-line or primary health care services - visiting a family
physician or nurse practitioner, calling telephone health information lines, seeing mental
health workers, or seeking advice from pharmacists.
Ideally, primary health care takes a holistic approach to service delivery, emphasizing
health promotion and the prevention of disease and illness, integrating a diverse range
of health care providers into a well-coordinated team, and fostering collaboration among
these providers to ensure the seamless flow of information from one organization or provider
to the next.
Model primary health care also features 24-hours-a-day, 7 days-a-week access to essential
care; multi-disciplinary provider teams offering services which meet the needs of patients;
and physician remuneration for quality care using various payment arrangements.
Primary health care, as described above, is becoming the predominant way in which front-line
services are delivered to Canadians. In fact, federal, provincial, and territorial governments
recognize that the reform of primary health care is the key to efficient, timely, and quality
health care overall. There is growing consensus, for example, that family physicians, nurses,
and other health professionals working side-by-side as partners in a multi-disciplinary
health provider team will result in better health, improved access to services, more efficient
use of resources, and greater satisfaction for both patients and providers.
The 2003 Health Care Renewal Accord demonstrates a commitment by federal and provincial
governments to use the multi-disciplinary team approach to provide all Canadians, wherever
they live, with access to an appropriate health care provider, 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week.
First Ministers also agreed to immediately accelerate primary health care initiatives and
to make significant annual progress so that citizens - at least 50% within 8 years - will
routinely receive needed care from multi-disciplinary primary health care organizations
or teams.
The primary health care reform elements outlined in the Accord build upon the First Ministers'
agreement in 2000. For instance, First Ministers renewed their commitment in 2000 to work
together, and in concert with health professionals, to improve primary health care and
its integration with other components of the health care system. Since that time, all governments
have taken measures to improve the quality, accessibility and sustainability of Canada's
public health care system and all have implemented important reforms.
Provinces and territories, and other health stakeholders, are also continuing their efforts
to implement transitional primary health care reform initiatives, which in many cases began
in September 2000, when the Government of Canada established the $800-million Primary Health
Care Transition Fund.
Primary Health Care Transition Fund
The Primary Health Care Transition Fund (PHCTF) was designed to support the efforts of
provinces and territories to develop and implement transitional primary health care reform
initiatives in their respective jurisdictions. It was also designed to enable governments
and other stakeholders to address overarching primary health care issues that are common
nationally or across two or more jurisdictions.
Funding transitional initiatives, rather than existing programs and services, will ensure
that a foundation for primary health care renewal can be established, and long-term and
sustainable change in primary health care systems across Canada can be achieved.
The Fund has five envelopes:
- Provincial/Territorial Envelope - allocated primarily on a per capita basis to provincial
and territorial governments to support their efforts to accelerate and broaden transitional
activities that lead to permanent and sustainable primary health care.
- National Envelope - supports activities that address barriers to primary health care
reform and transitional initiatives that are common nationally.
- Multi-Jurisdictional Envelope - supports collaborative, transitional initiatives undertaken
by two or more provinces and territories to improve primary health care in multiple jurisdictions.
- Aboriginal Envelope - supports transitional initiatives that benefit First Nations,
Inuit, and Métis peoples; addresses the unique needs of Aboriginal communities; and improves
accessibility of Aboriginal peoples to primary health care, regardless of where they
live in Canada.
- Official Language Minority Communities Envelope - supports transitional activities
that improve access to primary health care services for French- and English-speaking
minority communities across Canada.
The PHCTF is unique in its ability to support collaborative initiatives undertaken by
more than one jurisdiction or stakeholder to provide results beyond what any single recipient
could achieve on its own.
The Fund's objectives are consistent with primary health care reform priorities identified
in both the 2000 and 2003 First Ministers' health care agreements, as well as major national
and provincial health studies conducted over recent years, including the Romanow Report.
They seek to:
- increase the number of primary health care organizations that are accountable to provide
a prescribed set of comprehensive services to the populations they serve;
- establish multi-disciplinary provider teams within these primary health care organizations;
- facilitate coordination and integration with health services available elsewhere, such
as hospitals;
- increase the emphasis on health promotion, disease and injury prevention, and chronic
diseases management; and to,
- expand 24-hour-a-day, 7-days-a-week access to essential services.
Changing the health care system is a challenging task that takes time and unwavering effort.
The Government of Canada is making substantial investments to ensure that efforts to renew
primary health care lead to long-term, sustainable change. Multi-year activities will receive
monies under the Primary Health Care Transition Fund until March 2006.
Visit http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hcs-sss/prim/index_e.html for
more information.
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