Bill 141 2006

An Act to establish
a yearly target for the
patient-to-doctor ratio

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Definitions

1.  In this Act,

"family practitioner" means a physician who holds a certificate of registration with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario authorizing the independent practice of medicine, but does not include physicians who hold certification in a specialty by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada; ("médecin de famille")

"patient" means an insured person as defined in the Health Insurance Act. ("patient")

Target ratio

2.  (1)  The target ratios of patients to family practitioners for the seven-year period commencing with the year after the year in which this Act comes into force are set out in Schedule 1.

After year 7

(2)  The target ratio for each year after the end of the seven-year period is the ratio for year 7.

Actual ratio

3.  (1)  The College of Physicians and Surgeons shall calculate the actual ratio of patients to family practitioners for each year for which a target ratio is set out in this Act.

Publication

(2)  The Minister of Health and Long-Term Care shall publish the actual ratio on the Ministry's website within three months of the end of the year.

Same

(3)  The Minister shall publish the actual ratio in any other manner prescribed by the regulations.

Target ratio not met

4.  If, for any year, the actual ratio is greater than the target ratio, the Premier's salary and the salaries of all other members of the Executive Council, as determined under section 3 of the Executive Council Act, will be reduced by 10 per cent.

Regulations

5.  The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations,

(a) prescribing the manner in which the actual ratio is published for the purposes of subsection 3 (3);

(b) providing for such other matters as the Lieutenant Governor in Council considers necessary or advisable to facilitate the calculation or publication of the actual ratio.

Commencement

6.  This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

7.  The short title of this Act is the Patient-to-Doctor Ratio Act, 2006.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill establishes an acceptable patient-to-doctor ratio for Ontario and a timeline for achieving that ratio. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario is required to calculate the ratio of family practitioners to patients in Ontario each year. This ratio is compared to the target ratio for that year as set out in the Bill. If the target ratio is not met, then all members of the Executive Council will have their salaries reduced by 10 per cent.