Availability of surgical services in rural British Columbia

Background: Family physicians with enhanced surgical skills/obstetric surgical skills contribute significantly to surgical care delivery in rural British Columbia. This environmental scan documents their practice locations and procedural scope. Methods: Practice locations of enhanced surgical skills physicians/obstetric surgical skills physicians were identified using public data and professional networks. These data were collected between January 2022 and April 2023. Numbers of surgical procedures performed were determined using MSP billing data for fiscal year 2021-2022. Results: Overall, 11 enhanced surgical skills physicians and 21 obstetric surgical skills physicians were practising in 17 of the 45 rural communities. Five communities had enhanced surgical skills physicians/obstetric surgical skills physicians as the sole surgical providers. Common procedures billed by these physicians included colonoscopies (n = 559), C -sections (n = 404), and inguinal/femoral hernia repairs (n = 52). Conclusions: A number of family physicians provide core surgical services in rural BC, sometimes as the only surgical providers at their hospital. Despite the limitations of the data collected, due mostly to a high turnover of surgical providers in rural sites, our study shows that enhanced surgical skills physicians and obstetric surgical skills physicians are integral to the well-being of rural patients and the health care systems they access. Concerted efforts should be made to recruit and retain these key surgical providers in our province.