The Quebec government is still “very far” from coming to an agreement with family doctors and nurses on their salaries and conditions of practice, but Prime Minister François Legault is giving up on a possible special law. “We’re not there,” he said Friday.
At a press conference on the occasion of a review organized before the summer break, the head of the CAQ government admitted that the discussions initiated with the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec (FMOQ) and the Interprofessional Health Federation (FIQ) , which represents nurses, could still stretch over “several months” before reaching a conclusion.
“It may still be a long time, unfortunately,” he said.
In the preceding minutes, the CAQ elected official had welcomed the agreements concluded this winter with the Common Trade Union Front and the Autonomous Education Federation. “On the other hand, unfortunately, health is still not resolved,” he said.
The FIQ collective agreement and the FMOQ framework agreement have both expired.
Doctors already “very, very well paid”
Despite the potential impacts on appointment making, François Legault maintains a hard line against health network unions. Family doctors, in particular, “are already very, very well paid,” he noted.
“We are going to fight, we are ready to fight to the end for patients, for Quebecers. And we will not do what other governments have done before: that is to say, give up after a certain time,” he thundered.
As summer approaches, Mr. Legault wants “family doctors to still be responsible.” “But when I look at the state of the negotiations, we are very far from an agreement,” he repeated.
The Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec (FMOQ) and the Legault government had until last Saturday to conclude an agreement allowing appointments to be made for orphan patients through the front line access window (GAP) . On this front, things are progressing, the office of the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, indicated to Le Devoir on Friday.
“The Prime Minister was referring to the framework agreement, rather than the GAP agreement, when he mentioned that the negotiations could take several months,” wrote the minister’s press secretary, Audrey Noiseux.
In emails sent in the days leading up to the June 1 deadline, hundreds of thousands of patients learned that the offer of front-line appointments could not be maintained in the absence of an agreement.
“It might be long”
The Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec (FMOQ) also hopes to reach an agreement “quickly” on the GAP, an internal source indicated to Le Devoir after the Prime Minister’s press briefing.
As for the big negotiation (“the framework agreement”), it is realistic to think that it will last months as Mr. Legault suggests since there has not been much work done, points out. your.
On the nurses’ side too, we expect the negotiation to drag on, indicates the vice-president of the Interprofessional Health Federation (FIQ), Jérôme Rousseau. “It might be a long time,” he said in an interview on Friday. “We agree on the objectives – the quality and safety of care – but not on the means. »