By getting directly involved in the redistribution of new family physicians, Premier François Legault has ventured into slippery ground, according to the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec. “It’s dangerous,” said its chairman and chief executive officer, Louis Godin.
In the last few weeks, The duty revealed that the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, used his discretionary power to modify himself the regional medical manpower plans (PREM) for 2022. Montreal and the North Shore lost in the change, in particular, while the Montérégie has gained some twenty new general practitioners.
However, the minister did not participate on his own in the reallocation process. On Tuesday, during question period, the Prime Minister confirmed having had his say in the decision. “With the PREMs, the Minister of Health, then I even participated with him, we tried to distribute [les médecins] fairly according to the needs of the regions, ”he told the Salon Bleu.
“It is clear that the usual attribution model was not respected”, reacted Louis Godin in an interview with The duty, the next day.
Each year, a committee made up of officials from the Ministry of Health and various medical federations sets the number of new family physicians called upon to be sent to each region of Quebec. Their methodology is based on a series of calculations.
“Never seen that”
The Minister of Health has oversight over PREMs, and the legislative framework establishes that he can modify them. But the occurrences where he has appealed to his discretionary power are rare, if not zero, raises Louis Godin.
“We know that in the law, the Minister and, of course, the Prime Minister have discretionary power. But this is truly a first. We had never seen this before, ”he remarked.
The CEO of the FMOQ fears that the process of awarding PREMs has been tinged with subjectivity. “It’s always dangerous,” he said. There is a shortage of doctors, and the more qualitative elements we put in the distribution, the more likely it is to create discomfort. “
“We must try to be as objective as possible,” he added.
The PQ sees it as interference
It was the parliamentary leader of the Parti Québécois, Joël Arseneau, who questioned Prime Minister Legault when he admitted to having drawn up the PREMs for 2022 with his minister. speechless at his exchange with the chef caquiste.
“There is a form of interference on the part of the Prime Minister in the health care system which is disturbing,” he said.
Asked by The duty on the intentions behind the decision, Minister Dubé’s office maintained in early October that it was “in no way” a “political” choice. The CAQ holds a large majority of the ridings in Montérégie, including that of the minister himself.
To explain the numbers withdrawn from the Quebec metropolis, Minister Dubé’s press secretary maintains that too many patients from the South Shore are going to be treated on the island. “You should know that 25% of patients registered [auprès] Montreal doctors come from 450, ”she said.
Quebec plans to add approximately 400 family physicians in the field in 2022.