2023-08-23 17:08:16
Barely 24 hours following having tabled a bundle of some 150 amendments to his reform of the health network, Minister Christian Dubé reserved another for parliamentarians on Wednesday morning. This time, the government wants to ensure that Santé Québec keeps patients well informed of their rank on the various waiting lists.
Whether we are talking regarding surgery, consultation with a specialist or youth protection services, each request for service will be classified by level of priority. Then, according to the trend observed in the patient’s region, he will be told the average waiting time he is facing.
In addition, the minister would like the future agency in charge of health network operations to keep patients “informed of the progress” of their request. We therefore want to establish a process to know whether or not we have progressed on the waiting list.
In response to numerous questions from the opposition, the Minister insisted on the desire to force Santé Québec to inform patients of their level of priority, the average waiting time and the progress of their file.
For his part, Liberal MP André Fortin pleaded for the addition of a periodic updating obligation, which was not retained, but which might be determined by regulation.
The adoption of sections 62 and 63 gave the members of the Committee on Health and Social Services a bit of a hard time, since elected officials see it as a real means of improving access to care.
“We haven’t finished swallowing the 150 [amendements] yesterday that we are being asked to digest a new one this morning. It is not easy to work in these circumstances,” said Quebec Solidarity MP Vincent Marissal, adding that the articles concerned are “super important”.
The Member for Rosemont also wondered regarding the Minister’s intentions in his approach. Are we only trying to inform patients or give them better access to care?
“This article, which we have just added, for me, will not only come to inform the patient, but will measure it”, replied Christian Dubé before adding that he wishes to “measure access” since the priority is here.
Single list
In addition, private service providers who have entered into an agreement to provide care covered by the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) will be required to respect a single waiting list managed by Santé Québec.
The future state corporation will determine the access mechanisms leading to obtaining a service and the specialized medical centers or other private clinics will have to comply with them.
« [Si un spécialiste] guaranteed us a block of surgeries, he must take the patients in the order determined by the network”, summarized Minister Dubé during an exchange with the spokespersons of the oppositions during the detailed study of the project. of law.
Through this obligation, the Minister says he wants to put an end to certain practices where doctors who practice both in the public and private sectors favor certain patients.
At the same time, the minister also mentioned ongoing negotiations with doctors’ federations to facilitate patient referrals from one region to another. If there is no waiting for the same service in a neighboring region, a patient might be sent there with his consent. According to Christian Dubé, this practice would not currently be possible.
The analysis of each of the sections of the bill aimed at making the health and social services system more efficient continues on Thursday. Earlier this week, the minister warned that the law must be passed before the end of the parliamentary session in December. By late Wednesday followingnoon, the committee was down to clause 66. The initial version of the bill had 1,180 clauses before amendments were added.
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