François Legault, as a good technocrat, likes to analyze the columns of figures and statistics in order to pass judgment on efficiency, performance and productivity. This is the method he uses to evaluate the work of family physicians.
The Prime Minister blames the latter who, according to him, do not take care of enough patients. He conveniently forgets that he himself contributed to creating the problem, because when he was Minister of Health, he passed a law requiring family physicians to devote part of their time to health. work on specific medical activities. Since that time, family physicians have had to devote 40% of their time to working in hospitals, emergency rooms and in CHSLDs. Instead of tackling this problem, François Legault uses the method recommended by the former Minister of Health Gaétan Barrette. The latter wanted to impose penalties on family physicians who did not take care of a sufficient number of patients. Despite this ultimatum, Gaétan Barrette was forced to negotiate a compromise with the doctors.
Today, far from improving, the situation has deteriorated, the number of people waiting for a family doctor having doubled. The solutions to the problem of family physicians have been known for a long time: strengthening the first line, increasing the supply of home care, increasing the number of specialized nurse practitioners and granting them more autonomy, giving more importance to prevention and public health.
Instead of persisting in imposing a solution that does not work, François Legault should meditate on this quote from Albert Einstein: “Madness consists in doing the same thing over and over again, but hoping for different results. “
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