Barely a few months ago, when your child was sick, you could call 514 890-6111. The person on the phone gave you an appointment with a doctor or pediatrician near your home within 24 to 48 hours. Quickly, the parents obtained a diagnosis and a prescription.
Posted at 1:00 p.m.
A miracle ? No, just a healthy program that worked well: simple, fast, effective.
This program, “One call, one appointment”, was set up during the pandemic to relieve congestion in pediatric emergencies. It was intended for parents of children aged 0 to 16 in the Montreal region wishing to see a doctor for a minor emergency.
Many of us have used it: no less than 45,000 appointments were made between September 2021 and March 2022.
This program ended on March 31 without making a fuss. Parents learned this the hard way; some directly from the dispatcher announcing that the service would end in the coming days, or even by coming across a pre-recorded message mentioning the end of this program on March 31, 2022 and inviting parents to contact their family doctor or their medical clinic.
Like a luxury that had been offered to parents and exhausted hospitals.
A crying need
Hard return to reality since 1er april. Your 10 month old baby has had a fever for a few days and is now refusing to eat? Choose your option:
- Try your luck on the Rendez-vous santé Québec website to get an appointment. Personally, it never worked when I needed it. Even by paying an extra $25 to be informed in real time of new availabilities with the Bonjour-santé service;
- Queuing in front of a walk-in clinic at 7 a.m. hoping to get an appointment during the day;
- Spending hours on the phone waiting with a sick baby in your arms to get your family doctor’s last time slot (five days later). And this, if you are even lucky enough to have a family doctor;
- Set the alarm clock at five minutes to midnight to be the first to click on the next day’s walk-in from the pediatric outpatient clinic at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital;
- Go to the Sainte-Justine emergency room and be patient with your sick child on your lap.
If your child falls ill on a Friday or Saturday, forget about the first four options!
Messrs. Legault and Dubé, this program is not a luxury, it’s a need. In fact, it’s a band-aid for a much deeper problem.
Between now and major work on the health network and access for all to a family doctor offering last-minute appointments, not just annual follow-ups, we ask that you restore the “One call, one appointment “you” as soon as possible, for the well-being and the physical and mental health of families.
* Co-signers: Eric Pilote, father of Félix, 15 months; Marie Jorgeault and Guillaume Collard, parents of Elisabeth, 22 months; Noémie Robin and Ricardo Flores Mejia, parents of Raphaël, 17 months; Joanie Péloquin-Dumoulin, mother of Sasha, 4 years old, and Louis, 15 months)