(Quebec) While Quebec and the largest nurses’ union seem far from an agreement, at least 500 non-urgent surgeries are postponed per day of strike by the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ), lamented Christian Dubé .
“We are delaying around 500 surgeries per day,” said the Minister of Health upon his arrival at the Council of Ministers on Wednesday. The latter says he fears negative effects on his surgical catch-up plan, which specifically addresses non-urgent surgeries that have been pending for more than a year. “We lowered our list of [cas] more than a year and I would not like us to lose all this progress,” underlined Mr. Dubé.
Some 13,500 Quebecers have been waiting for more than a year to go under the knife. Quebec aims to return to a pre-pandemic level, which was around 2,500, “no later than” December 31, 2024. An interim target of 7,600 has been set for March 31, 2024.
The Minister of Health reiterated that he respects the “right to strike” of health workers, but like the Prime Minister pleads for more “flexibility” from the unions. Mr. Dubé hopes that the unions will compromise on labor mobility and recognition of the seniority of private employment agency workers, whom he wants to reintegrate into the network.
“What I would very much like, a bit like what is being discussed on the education side, for it to be very clear that we are ready to increase salaries, but at the same time, that we must have adjustments in the “organization of work”, explained Mr. Dubé who adopted his imposing health reform on Saturday under a gag order. The minister admits that the success of his reform is also linked to the renewal of employment contracts.
Collective agreements, I have always said, are an element that goes in parallel with Bill 15. The quicker we resolve the strike, the quicker we will have the conditions of flexibility.
Christian Dubé, Minister of Health
On Wednesday, the prime minister said a settlement with health workers’ unions could happen as early as January. The president of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, particularly targeted the FIQ with whom the discussions would be “more complex”, their demands being “unrealistic”.
Postponed surgeries
On days when the FIQ is on strike, Minister Dubé estimates that around 500 non-urgent surgeries are postponed daily. Operating theaters are notably operating at 70% of their capacity during the walkout, a rate approved by the Administrative Labor Court which determined several weeks ago the essential services to be maintained in the event of a strike in the health sector.
The approximately 80,000 nurses, practical nurses, respiratory therapists and clinical perfusionists members of the FIQ are on strike from December 11 to 14.
At the Quebec University Hospital alone, it is estimated that more than 3,000 non-urgent appointments are postponed and more than 200 surgeries. In Montreal, the MUHC notably closed two operating rooms at the Royal Victoria Hospital, two at the Montreal General Hospital, two at the Montreal Children’s Hospital and one at the Lachine Hospital, for the duration of the strike this week.
At the CIUSSS du Nord-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, the operating room at the Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur-de-Montréal will operate at 65% of its usual capacity, whereas it is around 50 % for Fleury Hospital and Jean-Talon Hospital. At the CIUSSS West-Central Montreal, around fifteen non-urgent surgeries per day are postponed.
At the CISSS de la Montérégie-Ouest, the number of surgeries postponed per day of strike is estimated at around ten and around 500 vaccination appointments have been rescheduled.