A family physician shortage is among the biggest hurdles contributing to wait times for basic and specialized health care, according to a new report from the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

The report, released Thursday, is based on a Decima research poll commissioned by the college that suggests millions of Canadians still don't have a family doctor, even after spending months looking for one.

According to the poll, about five million Canadians, or 17 per cent of the population, do not have a family doctor.

Among those doctorless people, nearly two million of them, or 38 per cent, have attempted to find a family physician in the past year, but have failed.

Not having a family physician makes it harder for Canadians to get referred to a specialist, which means they often have to wait for advanced medical care, the college report concludes.

And while it's valiant that Ottawa is making efforts to tackle wait times for certain specialized procedures, it shouldn't ignore the scarcity of family doctors, said Dr. Calvin Gutkin, the college's executive director, in a statement.

"Every Canadian should have the opportunity to have a family doctor. Tackling family physician shortages should be the first step in any wait time strategy."

"Wait time strategies need to address the complete patient experience. If you ask most patients, the clock starts ticking when they see their family doctor or recognize the need to see a physician."

Quebec in dire need of doctors

The family physician shortage is particularly acute in Quebec, where nearly 29 per cent of the population doesn't have a doctor.

The president of the Quebec College of Family Physicians, Bernard Lessard, says he gets up to 20 e-mails a day from people exasperated at the impossible task of finding a doctor to call their own.

Many have given up. "They probably don't try [anymore] because they think it's going to be impossible, or they know what the situation is in their community. But this is a disaster," he told CBC.

The shortage ends up costing the government much more than if people had access to primary care, the report says. People end up going to the emergency room more often if they don't have a doctor to call.

The report recommends a study group be established to develop and recommend primary care wait time benchmarks for finding a doctor and seeing them.

The Decima Research survey was conducted between Sept. 14 and 17, 2006. The survey polled 1,019 Canadians aged 18 and over. Decima says the results are accurate plus or minus 3.1 per cent of the time, 19 times out of 20.

Canada gets poor marks for primary care

Canada's health-care system was also criticized Thursday in an international study of primary health care.

Doctors in seven countries were polled on their professional practices by the Commonwealth Fund, a private, non-partisan foundation that supports health research.

According to the survey, less than a quarter of Canadian doctors use electronic medical records — a paltry showing compared to other countries, such as the Netherlands, where 98 per cent of doctors keep electronic notes.

Canada is also falling behind in the realms of after-hours care, multidiscipline team approaches to treating chronic illnesses, and incentives for doctors to become better physicians.

Countries like New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Australia and Germany surpass Canada in quality and efficiency, with only the United States scoring lower in some categories, the survey concluded.

With files from the Canadian Press