Quebecers who have received health care in the public network will soon be able to express their level of satisfaction confidentially using an online questionnaire.
This was announced Thursday by the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, who presented this new initiative as “one more step to improve” the patient experience in Quebec.
In a press scrum at the National Assembly, the minister explained that the data collected will be published in the government’s famous “dashboard” on Tuesday.
He said a pilot project was underway in four facilities, but soon patients across the network will be asked to comment on the quality of services.
Currently, the participating institutions are:
- the Côte-Nord Integrated Health and Social Services Center;
- the Integrated University Health and Social Services Center of Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean;
- the Integrated University Health and Social Services Center of the East-of-the-Island of Montreal;
- Sainte-Justine University Hospital.
The goal is for the network to adapt better and more quickly to the needs of citizens, said Mr. Dubé.
“What we want is to be able to compare establishments,” he said, adding that he believes this will help identify best practices and then extend them to the whole network.
Scale from 1 to 10
Concretely, patients will receive a QR code giving access to the short online questionnaire, which they can complete either during or following their stay, said the Minister.
A hard copy of the form is not available at this time, his press officer later clarified.
People will be able to evaluate, by giving a score from 1 to 10, the waiting time, the courtesy of the staff, as well as the clarity of the information. They will also be asked to give an overall score.
It is this last piece of data that will be published in the dashboard and that will make it possible to establish a general satisfaction rate, as a percentage.
“When they answer 7, 8 or 9, 10 even, it’s satisfactory, ok? After that, 6 and 7, we are less satisfied, declared Mr. Dubé. It is very good news for Quebeckers to be able to comment. »
The dubious opposition
Reacting with skepticism to Mr. Dubé’s announcement, the spokesperson for Québec solidaire en santé, Vincent Marissal, recalled that the network’s problems are already well known.
“The Minister knows the state of the network very well. He just has to read the Ombudsman’s reports, the Health and Welfare Commissioner’s reports, or he can go and read testimonials,” he said.
He pointed out that one of his fellow citizens in Rosemont, columnist Geneviève Pettersen, had recently complained of having to sleep on the floor of a hospital while her daughter was unwell. “No one took care of them,” lamented the deputy.
“He has a little tech-savvy side, our minister. But the situation on the ground, it is known, then his new gadget will not give any more nurses for patients in Quebec, ”he added.
It’s a “smoke show,” added Liberal MP Jennifer Maccarone. “The first thing to do is to make sure that we have enough professionals and doctors working,” she said.
For his part, PQ MP Joël Arseneau recalled that the government’s objective was to reduce the wait to see a doctor in the emergency room to 90 minutes. It is currently 2 hours 41 minutes.
“Once we know […] what we already know, […] that the system is all crooked, is […] the government [va] make an even more pronounced turn towards the private sector? asked Mr. Arseneau.
