Negotiations are continuing between Quebec and the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec (FMOQ) with a view to renewing the agreement which allowed its members to receive a bonus for the care of patients through the Guichet d’access to the first line (GAP).
“As always, the MSSS [ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux] wishes to come to a negotiated solution to the satisfaction of both parties. Patients should not be impacted by the negotiations,” indicated the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, in a message published on X.
Signed in 2022, at the launch of the GAP, the agreement in question – which allowed general practitioners to receive a bonus of $120 annually for the care of a patient through this new platform – expired on Friday.
Since then, the MSSS has said it has noticed that the time slots made available by general practitioners on this platform are “largely reduced”.
We therefore invite the population not registered with a family doctor to continue to refer to the GAP all the same. A nurse will be able to assess the need and refer to a front-line service, focusing on collaboration with other health professionals.
Excerpt from the message from Christian Dubé
In April, he angered doctors by announcing the end of the bonus, which risked harming patients’ access to the GAP according to what the FMOQ said at the time. The minister, for his part, raised doubts as to the fact that these patients, once registered, actually had access to a doctor.
Christian Dubé then said he was open to extending the agreement, but by making “adjustments”. A conciliator has since been appointed in the hope of bringing the parties closer together.