Health Minister Christian Dubé wants the number of patients waiting for surgery for more than a year to drop from 20,000 to 3,000 by May 2023, two months later than expected.
He said so on Wednesday after being quizzed on the matter by Nelligan Liberal MP Monsef Derraji. The Minister took part in the study of appropriations, an annual accountability exercise which makes it possible to evaluate the expenditures and performance of departments.
Mr. Dubé indicated that by reaching the number of 3,000 surgeries pending for more than a year “within a year” – therefore “by May 2023” – Quebec would return “to the pre-pandemic level”. In June, the government said it wanted to reach this same level from March 2023. The objective was repeated in April by the assistant deputy minister at the Ministry of Health and Social Services, Lucie Opatrny. This means that the latest waves of the pandemic have pushed back the deadline by two months.
According to the Ministry of Health and Social Services, 160,450 people are waiting for surgery in Quebec. During the study of the appropriations, the Minister indicated that his “focus” remains on the 20,000 surgeries which were to be carried out more than a year ago.
“I did not say that the others were not important,” he then underlined. The catch-up of surgeries that have been pending for less than a year (about 140,000 currently) will be carried out in a second phase, within two to three years, he estimated.
Christian Dubé recalled that before the pandemic, 100,000 Quebecers had been waiting for surgery for less than a year. In the November 2021 economic update, $800 million was allocated for surgeries catch-up, he also pointed out. “We have the budgets to do it,” said the minister in the parliamentary committee. When we have the necessary personnel, we can accelerate. »
Towards a new HPV screening program
The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, announced during the study of the appropriations that Quebec will soon launch a screening program for cancer of the cervix by detection of the human papillomavirus (HPV). The National Institute of Excellence in Health and Social Services (INESSS) issued an opinion on this subject last January. He recommends starting HPV testing at age 25 and doing it every five years.
For the moment, Quebec women undergo a Pap test (cytology) to detect cancer of the cervix. In its opinion, INESSS indicates that the HPV test compares favorably to the Pap test and that it has the advantage of being able to be performed by self-sampling. In interview at The Press in March, the Minister for Health and Social Services, Lionel Carmant, alluded to this new program. “The Pap test is outdated,” he said.
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