As of August 3, 288,709 additional Quebecers had been registered with a family medicine group (GMF), according to the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec (FMOQ). This is nearly 39,000 registrations more than the target of 250,000 set by the Quebec government and the FMOQ for July 31.
Posted at 6:00 a.m.
An agreement between the two authorities signed last May provided for the care of 500,000 orphan patients considered vulnerable by March 31, 2023. A first milestone of 250,000 registered patients was to be reached by July 31 and this is thing done, according to data from the FMOQ. An announcement on this subject should take place on Tuesday.
The agreement signed between Quebec and the FMOQ was described as “historic” by the Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé, on 1er last May. After a consultation, the members of the FMOQ had accepted the agreement by 84% (43% of the members had voted).
“All the necessary means have been deployed to achieve the objective of registering 250,000 patients by July 31”, indicated to The Press Robert Maranda, head of media relations at the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS). Monday morning, the MSSS completed the compilation of patient registrations.
For the FMOQ, the achievement of this objective is all the more impressive in that it was achieved “despite a significant shortage of staff, a 7e pandemic wave and hospital tasks that are still just as important”.
Other measures
The agreement to improve front-line care includes other measures. For example, patients with urgent needs who had a family doctor should be able to access them within 36 to 72 hours, depending on their clinical condition.
In addition, the implementation of first-line access counters (GAP) – gradually implemented throughout the province since the spring – should enable so-called “orphan” patients to obtain health services from various professionals, including doctors, within a reasonable time.
On July 14, 48 of the 92 territories ultimately to be covered by a GAP were covered.
During the most recent provincial election campaign, in 2018, the Coalition avenir Québec promised that every Quebecer would have access to a family doctor. But this goal has not been achieved, and waiting lists have lengthened.
At the beginning of 2022, nearly 1 million Quebecers were registered with the Guichet d’accès à un physician de famille (GAMF), compared to approximately 522,000 in 2019. The government’s approach is now to offer the patient the access “to the right healthcare professional at the right time”. Patient care is now done not only by a family doctor, but also by a GMF where doctors and various health professionals, such as nurses and psychologists, work.
With the collaboration of Fanny Lévesque, The Press