Doctors from the Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec join their voices with medical specialists and general practitioners and also denounce the failures of the Optilab system, which brings together all medical tests in a single laboratory per region.
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Established five years ago by the provincial government, the Optilab project aimed to save money and reduce the number of hours worked to improve service.
However, quite the opposite is happening.
Thursday morning, doctors from the Federation of Medical Specialists of Quebec (FMSQ) and the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec (FMOQ) denounced, in an open letter published in The Pressthe unacceptable delays experienced by patients.
Catherine Bouchard
Dr. François Maltais, head of the multidisciplinary department of pneumology and surgery at the University Institute of Cardiology and Pneumology of Quebec (IUCPQ).
“With all the hindsight we now have, we come to the conclusion that Optilab does not achieve the objectives”, laments Dr François Maltais, head of the multidisciplinary department of pneumology and surgery at the University Institute of Cardiology and pulmonology of Quebec (IUCPQ).
He also adds that the economic gains have not been demonstrated.
The diagnoses of some of his patients are delayed for “reasons as trivial” as delays in transporting samples or even the loss of them.
The analysis of a sample can take between 24 hours and 2 months. These delays can even go so far as to have an impact on the prognosis. An insane situation for the specialist, while the IUCPQ has laboratories to carry out these analyses.
“For a patient, I can tell you that it makes a world of difference, to wait a day or two”, worries Dr Maltese.
Research hampered
The IUCPQ is at the head of the pulmonary oncology network for eastern Quebec, recalls the specialist.
“We must play a leadership role and we must be exemplary in care, argues Dr Maltese. Currently, Optilab does not meet this need.”
IUCPQ researchers had the wind in their sails, in terms of research for the treatment of lung cancer, the deadliest cancer. Unfortunately, this effervescence is greatly hampered by the administrative burden of Optilab.
“Our teams in the laboratory must be able to evolve at the same speed as science, but they cannot in the current situation, because of the yoke of Optilab and its administrative burden”, concludes Dr Maltese.