PC's call for Skip the Waiting Room service at walk-in clinics across P.E.I.

PC MLA Brad Trivers wants to know why an online service that allows people to pre-register for walk-in clinics isn't being implemented across P.E.I.

'This is a solution that can be put in place very quickly,' says PC MLA Brad Trivers.

Krystalle Ramlakhan · CBC News · Posted: May 08, 2018 7:30 PM EDT | Last Updated: May 8, 2018

Five adults, including two seniors in the foreground, sit waiting in a doctor's office waiting room. — Opposition MLA Brad Trivers wants to see the local service from Skip the Waiting Room, where people can sign up for appointments at walk-in clinics, implemented across the province. (Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock)

P.E.I. PC MLA Brad Trivers wants to know why an online service that allows people to preregister for walk-in clinics isn't being implemented across P.E.I.

Skip the Waiting Room is an online site and app developed by a local company and is used by one clinic in Charlottetown, the Downtown Walk-in Clinic at the Boardwalk Professional Centre. Skip the Waiting Room developed the app with help from a startup grant of $25,000 in 2015 from Innovation PEI.

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Here's how it works: patients register online for an appointment, and when that time nears, they receive a call or text telling them to leave for their appointment. Patients do not have to take a number and sit in a crowded waiting room, unsure of when they'll be seen.

Patients hoping to get one of the 12 spots line up outside at the door starting at 7 a.m. or earlier.— Brad Trivers

There are a maximum number of online registrations accepted for each clinic time, ensuring there are spaces available for patients who register in person.

Health Minister Robert Mitchell said in the legislature Tuesday it's up to doctors who run fee-for-service clinics to decide whether they use the service.

Patients 'waiting out there in the freezing cold'

But Trivers said there are some clinics that are run by the province that could use it, such as the clinic in Hunter River, P.E.I.

PC MLA Brad Trivers says Skip the Waiting Room is a solution that can be put in place quickly. (Province of P.E.I.)

"At the once-a-week Friday clinic in Hunter River, patients hoping to get one of the 12 spots line up outside at the door starting at 7 a.m. or earlier just to keep their spot in line," Trivers said.

"These are seniors, these are young parents — you know, people who are ill and in the winter they're waiting out there in the freezing cold just to keep their spot in line."

Trivers pointed out that the service is used at about 1,200 clinics across the country.

Trivers asked if government would commit to at least piloting Skip the Waiting Room at clinics across P.E.I. as soon as possible.

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"This is something that has to be driven from the top. We need leadership from this government," said Trivers. "This is a solution that can be put in place very quickly."

Health Minister Robert Mitchell says government has worked closely with Skip the Waiting Room and will explore the possibility of expanding. (Province of P.E.I.)

Health Minister Robert Mitchell said government has worked closely with company and will continue to work with them about the possibility of expanding.

The province's efforts are focused on having primary care providers see their patients in their offices, said a spokesperson for the province. There are 94 family practices on P.E.I., up from 80 in 2006, according to the province.

The province said it is continuing to recruit to fill vacancies and Health PEI is working with primary care providers to establish more collaborative family practices to create better access for Islanders. It also said more nurse practitioners are being hired to enhance support to primary care.