“Our vision, and we have always had the same vision, is to better care for patients,” he said, along with Deputy Health Minister Lionel Carmant. The government has said it needs to find a way to recruit, train and retain staff to ensure this better access for patients. Dubé notes that he wants to hire at least 1,000 out-of-province nurses and add 3,000 administrators. Some of the proposed changes include solutions to stop Quebec residents from waiting more than 90 minutes in a hospital emergency room, setting up command centers, and eliminating mandatory overtime and giving more power to nurses, pharmacists and paramedics. This would allow health professionals to “direct patients to the right care and the right professional instead of just taking them to the emergency room”. Creating a professional order for this purpose is on the table. The Avenir Quebec Coalition (CAQ) says it also plans to set up a hotline (GAP) to bring people in contact with health professionals for consultation, ostensibly moving away from a key campaign promise to ensure that every Quebecer will eventually be assigned a family. doctor. There are currently almost a million people waiting to mate with a family doctor in Quebec. “We can talk to the doctor. We can say, ‘Maybe we need a hundred percent more with you, because sometimes a doctor will see, say, 100 patients in a week,’” Dubé said. “Asking him to see two or three more patients in a week is not much, but it can make a big difference for people who will need a doctor that day.” Quebec is also proposing a partnership with private medical clinics to reduce waiting times for surgeries, which have only increased since the beginning of the pandemic. “We have seen, in the last two years during the pandemic, things we do not want to go through again,” Dubbe said. “We do not want to experience dependence on the system, we do not want to force people to do things they do not want to do because the system could not follow the pandemic.” In terms of technology, the government is proposing an “ambitious plan” to modernize programs used to simplify administrative tasks and allow all Quebec residents to have full access to their medical records. Quebec Prime Minister François Lego was expected to attend the press conference, but had to take a step back after being diagnosed with COVID-19. Senior Minister Marguerite Blais, who was also scheduled to attend, is currently awaiting the results of the COVID-19 tests. The announcement comes a few months before the provincial elections, which are scheduled for Monday, October 3rd.
