Family doctors have vehemently denied it and called for its withdrawal, but they still have to face this new reality: Bill 11 was passed Tuesday in the National Assembly, heralding a new showdown between of Quebec and of the medical profession.
The new law 11, initiated by the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, aims to increase the supply of front-line services by reviewing the timetable of general practitioners, who are called upon to free up time slots to see more patients.
However, there is no barrier or specific target to be reached regarding the number of time slots to be removed. No punishment is given, either, against the potentially rude.
Angry, thinking inatake of Quebec, the Federation of General Practitioners (FMOQ) described the government’s approach as slap for its members and unsuccessfully asked the minister, in recent months, to step down.
According to him, the new law, which is completely useless, will not solve the recurring problems of access to a family doctor.
Minister Dubé filed his bill in November. Rather technically, it plans to deploy a management platform for making medical appointments. The goal: that an orphaned patient can see a doctor or health professional in less than 36 hours. The system will be managed by Family Medicine Groups (GMF).
1.5 million Quebecers without a family doctor
When the Legault government took office in 2018, there were 400,000 orphaned patients in Quebec. Four years later, the situation only got worse. It is estimated that approximately 1.5 million Quebecers currently do not have a family doctor.
In 2018, during the election campaign, Prime Minister François Legault promised to guarantee a family doctor to all Quebecers before his mandate ends.
Bill 11 also aims to provide, on a local and regional basis, detailed data on the medical practice and planning of workers. Access to this data will make it possible to better plan the service offer and medical staff needs.
In case the cooperation expected from physicians does not happen in the coming months, Minister Dubé said in November, when the bill was tabled, that he would retain the privilege of passing. at another stagewithout giving any details on its nature stage coming to a possible second term.
Quebec believes that too many family doctors take under their wing very few patients.
Repeatedly, the FMOQ replied that on average family doctors already work 45 hours a week, which the government has forced to diversify their practice, out of their office, by going to the hospital or CHSLD. Some have teaching roles.
We also remember that one doctor in four was over 60 years old, an age when it was considered to reduce his working hours rather than increase them.
Last year, Prime Minister Legault added fuel to the fire by threatening a law that would force doctors to take at least 1,000 patients. He set the tone by saying he had names of doctors who did not comply with this minimum standard, from a list obtained from the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ). The FMOQ disliked the tone.
An ongoing problem
The access problem is not new.
In 2015, former Liberal minister Gaétan Barrette passed Bill 20, which provided for financial penalties of up to 30% of compensation if doctors violated government dictates by failing to reach medical records. target set by Quebec.
Eventually, the Couillard government withdrew and the sanctions were not applied.
On Tuesday, Minister Dubé challenged his legislation will promote interdisciplinarity among network professionals through decompartmentalizing practices.
Doctors also need to go through the access desk to take new patients into their practice.
Source: Radio-Canada
