Overflowing emergencies, growing waiting list for surgery, delay in obtaining an appointment with a specialist doctor… The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, announces a new measure to try to resolve the problems in the public network health: a position of “access coordinator”, whose mission will be to improve the front-line access window (GAP).
The former president and CEO of the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale, Michel Delamarre, inherits this tough mandate, which aims to break down “silos in the health network” and “implement best practices on a global scale.” of Quebec “.
“The recipes are known. Sometimes, it takes the right chef to make the recipe,” illustrated Christian Dubé during a press scrum held alongside Michel Delamarre in an appointment center on the 811 telephone line, responsible for assigning appointments. -you from the GAP.
Michel Delamarre led a Quebec tour between October 2022 and June 2023 to take stock of the GAP. He submitted a report to the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) which was made public on Monday. In light of Mr. Delamarre’s findings, Quebec says in particular that it wants to ensure that patients who call the GAP can discuss several health problems during an appointment with a family doctor. In the future, GAP nurses could offer longer time slots depending on the needs of patients. At the moment, the expected duration for an initial consultation is usually 15 minutes. In healthcare settings, only one problem can be addressed.
But Mr. Delamarre’s mission goes beyond GAP, explained the Minister of Health in the press scrum. The work of the access coordinator will be evaluated based on three “major” indicators: “surgeries that are late, emergencies and the CRDS, the appointment center for [médecins] specialists,” said Christian Dubé.
In emergencies, the minister emphasizes that the waiting time on stretchers has increased from 9 p.m. to 5 p.m. over the past year, but that it is currently stagnating. “It’s not going down any further. » Best practices, he continues, must be established everywhere. “We had a crisis unit which brought about a lot of improvements in some of our emergencies. It’s not equal everywhere. »
The Minister of Health indicates that an action plan concerning the GAP will be presented in December. A strategic health plan, which will cover the next three years, will also be submitted in the coming weeks. It will plan concrete actions to reduce the waiting time on stretchers to 2 p.m., the ministerial target.
The occupancy rate in Quebec emergencies was 125% on average Monday around 1 p.m., according to the Index Santé website. This percentage amounted to 240% at the Mont-Laurier Hospital, 211% at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, 184% at the Montreal General Hospital, 173% at the Royal-Victoria Hospital, at 175 % at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, 175% Hôtel-Dieu D’Arthabaska and 171% Hôtel-Dieu de Sorel.