The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, wants the government platform Rendez-vous santé Québec (RSVQ) to continue referring patients to the private health care sector.
Mr. Dubé said Wednesday that he would however like to further clarify what choices are available to patients seeking appointments.
“I’m going to see what corrections need to be made on the site, to ensure that people understand that there are appointments that are free and that there are appointments that require payment,” he said. declared in an exchange with the parliamentary press. I’m not sure that’s clear. »
The duty revealed on Wednesday the case of a patient who ended up in a private clinic after being referred by RSVQ to a list of alternative services due to a lack of availability in his family medicine group.
Mr. Dubé was in favor of this way of proceeding.
“I don’t have a problem with that,” he said.
Mr. Dubé indicated, however, that he does not want RSVQ to directly offer appointments offered by private health care companies.
“I just want to clarify that Rendez vous santé gives a list where we can have public appointments, therefore free, but which also gives a list as soon as there are private appointments,” he said .
In September, Mr. Dubé had already affirmed that the private sector offer, on the popular Clic Santé private platform, was complementary to that of the public sector.
Unnatural
Liberal MP André Fortin considers it abnormal for the government to open the door to the private sector through its own platform.
“If people want private services, they will turn to the Yellow Pages, they will see where these services are, but when we turn to the government, it is to have public services,” he said. -he says. We cannot refer people, without telling them, to services for which they will have to pay. »
According to Mr. Fortin, Mr. Dubé had already committed to closing this type of gap through which patients find themselves having to pay bills of $200 and more.
“Christian Dubé himself told us: It doesn’t make sense, we have to stop it. Obviously, that hasn’t been done,” he said.
Quebec Solidaire MP Guillaume Cliche-Rivard pleaded for the Régie de l’assurance santé du Québec (RAMQ) to reimburse patients thus referred to the private sector.
“There are families, it’s quite obvious, who are unable to afford this,” he lamented.
According to him, the private sector’s offer seems more accessible than that of the public sector in certain cases.
“The only things that are available on these platforms at the moment, if you want to make an appointment, it is paid, if you want to make an appointment in the short term, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow”, he said.