"What do you mean I can't have a doctor? this is Canada!" - a qualitative study of the myriad consequences for unattached patients awaiting primary care attachment.

Background: Patient access to primary healthcare (PHC) is the foundation of a strong healthcare system and healthy populations. Attachment to a regular PHC provider, a key to healthcare access, has seen a decline in some jurisdictions. This study explored the consequences of unattachment from a patient perspective, an under-studied phenomenon to date.

Regional variation in primary care improvement strategies and policy: case studies that consider qualitative contextual data for performance measurement in three Canadian provinces.

Objective: To explore regional primary care improvement strategies that are potentially determinants of primary care performance.

Design: Multiple comparative embedded case study.

Setting: Three regions in Canada: Fraser East, British Columbia; Eastern Ontario Health Unit, Ontario; Central Zone, Nova Scotia.