South Island Division of Family Practice

After Hours Coverage Program

Member update | February 2024

In January 2024, The Family Practice Services Committee (FPSC) announced that the AHCP pilot, a partnership with HealthLink BC and Divisions’ of Family Practices, has transitioned to an ongoing Provincial Initiative, providing continued support to providers and their patients for after-hours care. Click here to view the latest announcement.

Following the announcement, the AHCP service is receiving multiple calls from patients in the South Island & Victoria regions whose primary care providers are not registered with the program. To ensure adequate follow-up, we would like to get those interested in joining registered. Below are some FAQs being received by our members.

Q: Are physicians required to staff the AHCP service if we decide to register?

A: No, there is no requirement to staff the service or take any shifts if you choose not to.

Q: Is there any implication to signing up if I am already a part of an existing on-call group?

A: No, not necessarily, however the volume of calls received may decrease with both services.

Q: If only a portion of our clinic providers want to register, can we still join?

A: Yes, you can still register if your entire clinic is not ready. However, it is ideal to join as a clinic for patient messaging.

Q: What is the process of signing up or finding out more info?

A: You can contact Myla Yeomans-Routledge, Project Manager directly at myla.yr@sidfp.com or register online and sign the user agreement HERE.

Sign up to use the After Hours Care Program (AHCP) Pilot service now!

Please click here to access FPSC’s sign up form and/ or to learn more about the AHCP Pilot.
Following two successful Kickoff Launch Webinars, the AHCP service has already started signing providers up to work the service and/ or to utilize the service.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding sign up or the AHCP Pilot itself, contact Myla Yeomans-Routledge, Project Manager at myla.yr@sidfp.com

AHCP website: https://fpscbc.ca/after-hours-coverage 

AHCP team email address: ahcp@doctorsofbc.ca

Link to the kick-off webinar recording: https://fpscbc.ca/after-hours-coverage/whats-new

AHCP sign-up form: https://fpscbc.ca/after-hours-coverage-register

AHCP FAQ: https://fpscbc.ca/after-hours-coverage/faqs

 

The After Hours Coverage Pilot is an FPSC initiative that provides family physicians and nurse practitioners with a solution supported by HealthLink BC that meets the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC requirements for after-hours coverage for longitudinal patients. The program aims to address pain points raised by family doctors during the recent Doctors of BC engagement series (see The Future of Primary Care: Doctors of BC 2022 Member Engagement Report).

The pilot aims to launch in September 2023 in Langley, South Okanagan Similkameen, South Island and Victoria, and Thompson Region divisions. It will run for six months. During the pilot, attached patients in the pilot communities will be able to call a dedicated line at HealthLink BC for after-hours medical care and management from a longitudinal perspective.

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The Divisions of Family Practice acknowledge that we work on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of many different Indigenous Nations throughout British Columbia.

Acknowledging that we are on the traditional territories of Indigenous communities is an expression of cultural humility and involves recognizing our duty and desire to support the provision of culturally safe care to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people in BC.