With the approach of the summer holidays, the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, asks Quebecers to use the front-line access counter (GAP) for minor health problems, rather than going to the emergency room . Due to a lack of sufficient staff, health establishments will reduce their service offer again this summer.
“We have to give our employees a vacation,” he said, in a press scrum. Summer is always a time that is full of challenges. »
In Bas Saint-Laurent, the Mont-Joli emergency department will close at 4 p.m. instead of 8 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, fromer July to September 3. Patients should go to the emergency department of the Rimouski regional hospital. In the Mauricie-Centre-du-Québec region, the Fortierville emergency department has already reduced its activities: for three weeks, it has been open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., rather than from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. However, it has been completely closed on Thursdays since April 27.
In total, Quebec has identified six reorganizations of services in as many establishments – two concern obstetrics units. These are listed on a government website. According to Christian Dubé, other reorganizations could be announced during the month of July when the number of people on vacation reaches a “peak”.
Nearly 54,000 employees of the health and social services network were absent as of May 20. “Out of a staff of 350,000,” said Minister Christian Dubé. It’s a lot. We still have challenges. »
Christian Dubé is however pleased with the establishment of the GAP, which has received 900,000 calls over the past year. “We improved it a lot,” he said. There are still places where the waiting times, when you call the GAP, are long, but the Quebec average is still very good. »
The minister believes that waiting on the phone for 20 minutes to get an appointment with the GAP is worth it. “You’re going to talk to someone in a much faster time than going to the emergency room,” he said. The emergency, we wait an average of four hours for what is called an outpatient visit. »
Stable situation in emergencies
According to the president of the Association of Specialists in Emergency Medicine of Quebec (ASMUQ), the situation remains “stable” in Quebec emergencies. Waiting rooms are however full, according to its president, the Dr Gilbert Boucher. “The rate of patients who leave without being seen keeps on being above 10 or 11% every day,” he says.
Some ERs are forced to seat patients in exam rooms, waiting for them to get a bed upstairs. “Doctors tell me ‘the waiting room is full, we’re full of doctors, we have nurses, but we don’t have room to see the patients'”, reports the Dr Butcher.
The president of ASMUQ believes that the summer will be more difficult for patients who will come to the emergency room because of “small sores”. “The real function of the emergency, sick patients, access to the stretcher and hospitalizations, it’s still going well,” he judges.