MONTREAL – Dissatisfied with the changes made so far to Bill 15, which aims to reform the healthcare network, the Council for the Protection of the Sick sends “a cry from the bottom of my heart” to Minister Christian Dubé, hoping to preserve the voice of users.

In a press release sent out on Wednesday, the organization said it feared that the future “Health and Welfare Efficiency Act” if passed in its current form “would seriously damage the voice and independence of user committees.” . throughout Quebec”.

These committees act as watchdogs for defending user rights on the healthcare network. They ensure the respect and well-being of patients and residents in any care facility.

During specific consultations on PL-15, the Council for Patient Protection (CPM) had raised the same issues and the same arguments before parliamentarians. At this point, Minister Dubé seemed alert and inclined to back down on certain elements to ensure the survival of the user committees.

However, this openness has not yet resulted in a change in the first hours of detailed consideration of the draft law. Since the parliamentarians are taking a break for the summer holidays, this work has to be resumed on August 21st.

In its current form, the bill will abolish more than 150 user committees by restricting their distribution by care areas established by future public body Santé Québec, rather than by physical facilities that provide care. Only shelters have their own resident committee.

In the eyes of the CPM, this approach is at odds with the local administration defended by Minister Dubé and his stated desire to bring the community closer to the decisions made in care institutions.

The reform would not only remove citizens’ participation in decisions related to health services, but would also seriously jeopardize the autonomy and independence of what remains of the user’s voice.

The CPM denounces the provisions of PL-15 that would make the Minister, Government or their future corporate entity responsible for appointing citizen representatives to the various governing boards and main committees, including the National Users Committee and the CA. of Health Quebec.

The President and General Director of the Council for the Protection of the Sick, Paul G. Brunet, speaks of a “deficit of democracy”. Article 107 of the Dubé reform provides for the appointment of ‘users’ in school boards, but there is no evidence that they must come from user committees.

For Mr. Brunet, user representatives must be elected by their peers so that they can speak freely on their behalf.

Worse, Mr. Brunet denounces that the national user committee, made up of people appointed by Health Quebec, is mandated to “oversee” the local committees. We are therefore concerned that the future state body will be in control of the only entities that provide a genuine citizen voice.

“Is that what we want for our user committees? To be gagged or controlled by a political body that will be the National Committee?” he wonders.

Paul G. Brunet commends Minister Dubé for the openness he has shown throughout the consultation process and believes he is unaware of the extent of the damage.

“I still suspect that the minister has not seen this effect of the toga of the ministry apparatchiks,” he begins, accusing officials of creating sham committees in order to have the open field.

“Currently, there is no one in the user bodies who has the slightest influence,” he laments.

Six requests

As part of its publication, the Council for the Protection of the Sick sends six requests to Minister Dubé.

First, we want to ensure the maintenance of all existing user and resident committees. We would also like to allow these committees to delegate the members they wish to see on the Santé Québec Board of Directors, as well as on the National Users Committee or any other committee that calls for citizen representation.

In addition, the CPM advocates an increase in the resources granted to the committees to enable them to carry out their tasks. At the same time, we demand better promotion of their existence.

It is also proposed that user committees be responsible for assessing satisfaction with the services provided in each facility.

According to the current version of the draft law, the institutes would carry out their own self-assessment. Which leads Paul G. Brunet to say that suddenly “everything on the network is going to be fine”.

Finally, the Council calls for the retention of the task of defending users’ rights, which until now has been entrusted to these committees by law.

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