The astonishing exit of six former prime ministers will have at least succeeded in showing a certain intransigence from Quebec Minister of Health, Christian Dubé. The elders’ convoluted message focused on the autonomy of university hospitals and institutes. However, regarding Bill 15 (PL15), and to paraphrase Cyrano, we could say: “Oh! God!… many things in short! »
Several aspects of this bill are concerning. I only mention a few here. It’s a little scarier when you give the impression of not being listened to in high places.
On September 24, Prime Minister François Legault was interviewed at the Behind the scenes of power. I was a little stunned to hear him explain how he wanted to pay more for nurses working in remote areas, but was unable to do so due to unionism. As someone who has been working in Montreal hospitals for 20 years, I can no longer count the number of times a nurse has left Montreal for the suburbs or even further afield, due to not having the means to settle on the island, nearby. from his workplace. Now let’s imagine financial incentives for settling outside the city.
Another idea put forward by PL15 is the transferability of nurses’ seniority when they change hospitals. Although it is certainly an apparently healthy and noble idea, its pitfalls will undoubtedly be insurmountable… How many nurses stay in their position so as not to lose their seniority after 15-20 years of practice? Certainly a lot. In the context of a labor shortage in the public network, allowing a transfer without penalty, with a bonus in certain cases, seems absolutely incompatible with the maintenance, and even more so the growth, of our tertiary activities in the city, where the patient population is heavier than elsewhere.
What about the place given to the private sector? In the Ideas section of October 26, political economist and health policy researcher Andrew Longhurst very well presents several concerns relating to the contribution of the private sector by summarizing the disappointing experience attempted in Western Canada, in particular the high costs of sector. Why repeat the same mistakes rather than being inspired to do things differently? In the event of the opening of this market in a context of labor shortage, it is a safe bet that the public network will find itself weighed down with heavy and expensive cases to deal with and a lack of stakeholders which will make the system even a little more dysfunctional.
In the immediate future, well before PL15 is adopted, the surgery catch-up plan is proving to be a failure in several hospitals. Impossible to extend the operating hours of operating theaters without nurses or respiratory therapists. Despite all the administrative wishes in the world, we cannot operate without personnel. If we assume that the situation will deteriorate in the short term, it is difficult to imagine that we will get our heads above water.
The month of November and the announced strikes will slow down our efforts even further. The law on essential services requires the maintenance of 70% of usual operating theater activities. As we have been operating at 70% capacity for several months, does this mean that we will see no change? Or have we been on strike in spite of ourselves for a long time?
Let us hope for a little listening and openness from our leaders. And we look forward to attractive working conditions for all those involved in the network, so that we can finally concentrate on treating patients within reasonable time frames.