Two weeks after its launch by the Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé, the telephone line Un appel, un service, intended for sick children, does not make it possible to obtain, in all regions of Greater Montreal, an appointment. you medical as advertised. Montreal and Laval offer consultations, but not Lanaudière or the Laurentians. Montérégie says it will start doing so this week.
One call, one service, reachable from 811, is one of the three measures put in place by Quebec to unclog hospital emergency rooms, especially pediatric ones. During his presentation at a press briefing in early November, Minister Christian Dubé indicated that children in the greater Montreal area could have access to it now in order to see a doctor or another health professional.
Verification made, the pediatric line has been launched in all regions of Greater Montreal (and even Quebec, indicates the Ministry of Health and Social Services). But the regions surrounding Montreal do not all have a center to offer medical appointments.
Montérégie says that since October 31, 811 nurses have been giving “health advice” to parents on the pediatric line. But the meeting hasn’t started yet. The service will be able to do so “as of this week”, writes the CISSS de la Montérégie-Centre in an email.
For its part, the CISSS des Laurentides indicates that “the line dedicated to parents offers a priority assessment service by telephone, without however offering medical appointments”. “The provincial service to which we refer can, however, support the parent in this process,” we add in an email.
Questioned on this subject, the office of the Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé, replied that it was necessary “to go there step by step”. “We proceeded to set it up on the island of Montreal to ensure that the service can properly meet the needs of parents and we can see that it is working. Now, it’s a matter of days before it’s available throughout Greater Montreal. »
To Montreal
According to the Ministry of Health and Social Services, the pediatric 811 line received 10,647 calls across Quebec between October 31 and November 13. “The reference to a telephone exchange for making appointments is currently being deployed in Greater Montreal, and already available on the Island of Montreal,” we continue.
According to the DD Ariane Murray, head of the Regional Department of General Medicine in Montreal, 17% of calls to the 811 pediatric line in the last week resulted in the telephone exchange giving appointments with a doctor or with a specialized nurse practitioner.
It’s a matter of days before it’s available throughout Greater Montreal.
“Just over 80% of calls ended with self-care, advice, reassurance, saying ‘if it’s not better in 24-48 hours, if there’s still a fever, call back us and at that time, we will reassess together and we will give you an appointment if necessary, ”she says.
The DD Murray expects the line to grow in popularity when it becomes better known. However, it does not believe that it will generate as many medical consultations as the previous One call, one appointment service, which ended on March 31. Up to 400 appointments per day were then given, she says. “There was no filter, no nurse assessment like now,” she says.
Contacted by The duty, Montreal pediatric hospitals said they were unable to assess the impact of this new line on traffic in their emergency room. The Sainte-Justine University Hospital Center reports that it is still “struggling with unprecedented volumes of activity both in the emergency room and on its hospitalization units which are currently at maximum capacity”.