Almost 24 hours after he had tabled a bundle of around 150 amendments to his reform of the health network, Minister Christian Dubé reserved another one 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.

Regardless of whether it is an operation, a specialist medical consultation or youth protection services, each service request is prioritized. Then, according to the development observed in the patient’s region, he is informed of the average waiting time that he has to expect.

In addition, the minister wants the future agency in charge of running the healthcare network to keep patients informed “of the progress” of their request. We would therefore like to establish a process to determine whether we have progressed on the waiting list or not.

In response to numerous questions from the opposition, the minister stressed the desire to force Santé Québec to inform patients of their priority level, the average waiting time and the progress of their files.

For his part, Liberal MEP André Fortin advocated the introduction of a periodic update obligation, which has not been retained but could be set by regulation.

The passage of Sections 62 and 63 caused some difficulty for Health and Human Services Committee members, as elected officials see them as a real means of improving access to health care.

“We haven’t quite swallowed yesterday’s 150, so we’re supposed to digest a new one this morning. It’s not easy to work in these circumstances,” said Vincent Marissal, MP for Quebec Solidarity, explaining that the articles in question are “very important”.

The Rosemont MP also wondered what the minister’s intentions were with his approach. Are we just trying to educate patients or give them better access to healthcare?

“For me, this article that we have just added will serve not only to inform the patient but also to measure him,” replied Christian Dubé, adding that he would like to “measure access” because that is the priority .

individual list

In addition, private service providers who have entered into an agreement to provide Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) services must adhere to a uniform waiting list managed by Santé Québec.

The future governmental body will determine the access mechanisms leading to the claiming of a service, and the specialized medical centers or other private clinics must comply with them.

“(If a specialist doctor) has guaranteed us a block of medical practices, he must admit the patients in the order determined by the network,” concluded Minister Dubé in an exchange with opposition spokesmen during the in-depth study of the draft law.

With this commitment, the minister says he wants to put an end to certain practices where doctors, working in both the public and private sectors, prefer certain patients.

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