Family doctors in offices are “overloaded” by cases of respiratory infections, but they will try to do more to reduce emergency room visits, says the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec (FMOQ). Its president, Dr Marc-André Amyot proposed to the government on Wednesday various solutions, including the addition of appointment slots granted by the 811 telephone line to patients who have a family doctor and are unable to reach him.
Doctors, we will ask them to offer one or two slots per day to 811 for their individually registered patients, specifies the Dr Amyot. All this will be done on a voluntary basis depending on the needs from one region to another. If in Montreal or Gaspé we don’t need that, we won’t do it. »
But why have to call 811 to get an appointment with your family doctor? Couldn’t doctors offer additional slots directly at their clinic? They have already added some, retorts the Dr Amyot. “The overload of traffic that we see everywhere, the doctors feel it in their clinic and they already provide accessibility to these patients. The doctors in the office, GMF, GMF-R, they are already stretching to see this clientele. » These would therefore be new consultation slots for 811, which will do “a little triage” of patients, he explains.
Other solutions put forward by the FMOQ: create more winter clinics — 39 are currently in operation — and send a nurse from the front line access desk (GAP) to the most congested emergencies so that she can redirect patients to the right resources.
“The GAP satellite in the emergency room can say “you have back pain”: we have a place to see a physiotherapist. You have a red eye: we have a place to see an optometrist. » These professionals still need to be available, he recalls.
“Everything cannot rest on the shoulders of family doctors”, maintains the Dr Amyot, recalling that at least 1,200 are missing in Quebec.
The FMOQ also recommends that the government adjust the GAP (811) appointment offer based on the seasonality of viruses. “The ministry asked us to distribute this equally annually. For example, 1500 appointments per quarter. What we say – and we said it from the start – don’t you think we should put 2000 in December, January and February and maybe 1000 during the summer? »
The doctors’ union is also asking the government to lift the quarterly remuneration cap imposed on certain categories of doctors working, for example, “without appointments”. “I have doctors who are ready to work,” said Dr.r Amyot. They want to do more. But after a certain amount, there is a quarterly cap. Normally, when people work more, they are paid double time, time and a half. The rest of us cut them off. »