While just under a million Quebecers are currently waiting for a family doctor, Health Minister Christian Dubé predicts that half of them will have one in less than a year.
“I want us to end up with at least 500,000 patients who will be removed from the Family Doctor Access Window” by March 31, 2023, he said, Sunday, in an interview with the To have to. “We are going to give access to a family doctor to the most vulnerable clientele who do not have one,” he continued, quantifying this clientele at 400,000 priority patients, who should therefore all have a family doctor. here next March.
The agreement announced Sunday between the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec (FMOQ) and the Quebec government, which aims to improve access to front-line care, was welcomed as a “ray of hope” by the FMOQ. The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, for his part, welcomed a “structuring and key” agreement in his government’s health plan.
The agreement includes a series of measures intended to facilitate access to primary care for the population. Each patient with a family doctor will be able to access it, or another doctor in the group, within 36 to 72 hours depending on their clinical needs. In addition, patients without a family doctor will be able to have access to a health professional within a “reasonable” timeframe thanks to the first-line access window (GAP), a system that will be gradually implemented throughout Quebec.
This agreement, to which general practitioners will subscribe on a voluntary basis, made the president of the FMOQ, Dr.r Marc-Andre Amyot. “It’s a collaborative agreement, an agreement where the two parties will work together, without penalties, threats or obligations”, he rejoiced in an interview with the To have to.
Interprofessional cooperation
The agreement promotes cooperation between the various trades working in the health sector, a central point of the FMOQ’s demands. “We can no longer meet all the needs of the population, when we have a shortage of 1,000 general practitioners”, underlines the Dr Amyot. The GAP will therefore “evaluate the needs of the patient and determine the best professional to meet them”, such as a nurse or a pharmacist, he specifies. “We conducted a pilot project in Bas-Saint-Laurent, and about 50% of patients were referred to other professionals. »
Another central point of the announcement, in the eyes of the doctor, is that the agreement between the FMOQ and the government will make it possible to “sit down and see the problems facing doctors”, particularly with regard to technical patient investigation platforms, mental health resources and difficulties in accessing the second line, ie medical specialists.
In order to speed up access to general practitioners, they as well as the Family Medicine Groups (GMF) will have to “give additional time slots for appointments,” confirmed Minister Dubé. A measure welcomed by the Dr Amyot: “Many FMGs had already started to make more time slots available for patients without family doctors. We are betting that those who already offered it will be able to offer more, since it will be better structured. »
All the measures included in the agreement remain on a voluntary basis for physicians, but the president of the FMOQ declares that he is “convinced” that the majority will subscribe to them. “Those who say ‘I’m no longer able’, we won’t ask them any more, but many will say ‘I’m ready to participate and even to review my way of practicing’. »
In the next two weeks, the president of the FMOQ will travel across Quebec to meet doctors and present them with the details of the agreement. “We are going to recommend that they vote for [l’entente] “, he specifies.
Some tensions between the government and the FMOQ remain, however, regarding Bill 11, which aims to increase and improve the supply of front-line services by general practitioners. Several clauses arouse discontent among them.