(Québec) Christian Dubé is asking retired nurses to once again lend a hand to the health network to take calls from the 811 pediatric line. contributes” until December 31st.
“We could take up to 5,000 nurses”, launched Thursday the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé. “The 811 works very well, but there are not enough people to answer the phone. There are so many calls… and these are people who went to the emergency room until a few weeks ago,” recalled Mr. Dubé, who reactivated the 811 pediatric line with the creation of his emergency crisis unit.
Mr. Dubé’s office specified in the evening that the need is for 5,000 nurses for the entire network, but that it is looking for volunteers to lend a hand to the 811 pediatric line that Quebec wants to extend to d other regions.
The Press reported Wednesday that parents of sick children must be patient to reach the pediatric 811 line, where the waiting time can be more than an hour. Emergency rooms for children are also overflowing with patients due to the circulation of three respiratory viruses. The occupancy rate in the emergency room of the Montreal Children’s Hospital has reached 192%, according to the Index Santé site.
“I think that over the next few weeks, it will continue to be difficult, our job is to try to reduce it through the measures we have put in place to make it more manageable” , Minister Dubé told reporters.
I take this opportunity to say, especially to retired nurses, that the “I Contribute” program still works. If there are nurses who want to come and help us over the next few weeks, it’s a very good schedule, it’s work that can be done part-time.
Christian Dubé, Minister of Health
The “I Contribute” program was deployed on an emergency basis during the COVID-19 pandemic when healthcare workers were dropping like flies. It provides for certain exceptions at the union level as well as special authorizations to practice issued by professional orders to allow nurses to retire quickly or to study in the field.
Except that these authorizations are kept in force under Law 28 on emergency measures, which allowed the government to retain certain exceptional powers until December 31 only. Quebec wants to table regulations to keep these thousands of workers employed who have come to lend a hand for screening and vaccination activities.
The MSSS is still negotiating with the professional orders the terms of a future regulation that would regulate the practice of these employees.
According to Mr. Dubé, some 10,000 workers hired by the program are still employed by the network.
On Wednesday, during his opening speech, Prime Minister François Legault also addressed them: “I hope that the discussions with the professional orders are progressing quickly and that we will obtain concrete results for the professionals and for Quebecers. It’s urgent. You have to be open, put yourself in solution mode. We need results! “, he launched asserting that his government wanted to expand the practices of nurses, physiotherapists and pharmacists.
811: Virtual waiting room
Christian Dubé also mentioned that his department was working with “telephone operators” to create a kind of virtual waiting room when calling 811. “We would like a system where you leave your phone number and we call you back. . For that, I have to be sure that a nurse will call you back, ”he argued.
Mr. Dubé specified that the national director of public health, Dr.r Luc Boileau, will give an update at the beginning of next week on the circulation of respiratory viruses which particularly affect children. The influenza virus also arrived earlier than expected which added pressure on the emergency room.