Canadian doctors spend millions of hours on unnecessary paperwork each year: report – CBC

Report says Nova Scotia is leading the way in reducing administrative burden

Jan 30, 2023

Dr. Leisha Hawker reserves a full work day each week just to do paperwork. She sees no patients and works through form after form, so she can get home in time to put her daughter to bed.

She’s not alone in this routine.

The Halifax family doctor, who is also the president of Doctors Nova Scotia, said it’s estimated that most physicians in the province spend about 10 hours a week dealing with unnecessary paperwork.

This means someone else could do it, or it doesn’t need to be done at all. She said this work accounts for about 500,000 hours of physician work per year in Nova Scotia, and often falls on nights and weekends.

“A lot of younger physicians that have a family will do two shifts,” Hawker said. “You’ll go home and take your kid to judo or swimming or whatever it is, put them to bed and then log back in and do more work and then go to bed late at night.”

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/canadian-doctors-millions-hours-paperwork-1.6728529