A group of former executives from Quebec’s health network have written a letter calling for Quebec’s auditor general to conduct an urgent review of the province's controversial health care reform bill.
Bill 10 was introduced last year and consolidated health and social service facilities across the province in order to reduce bureaucracy, which in turn is supposed to improve the care patients receive.
The letter, published in Saturday’s issue of Le Devoir, asks the auditor general to look into the state of care and services to patients as well as the impact the reforms have had on those who work in health care.
They're also asking for a financial audit to see if the changes are delivering on promised savings.
Quebec Health Minister Gaetan Barrette says he's not surprised by the letter.
“They were always promoting their way and over the years they did not succeed in pushing their views. It's a last bout, I would say,” he said.
PQ Leader Pierre Karl Peladeau he also isn’t surprised because, he says, “everybody” opposes the reforms.
“I guess there is no one, basically, in agreement with [Barrette’s] position, and we’re moving in a sort of chaos that certainly isn’t going to be good for the citizens,” he said.
Patients’ rights advocate Paul Brunet agrees that the system needs independent review.
“We're even losing power among users’ committees, which have been centralized to a unit much closer to the minister's office. And in the field, people are afraid to talk. That is not sane, that is not how any organization should work,” he said.
Quebec's auditor general is completely independent. Although this request is within her mandate, she isn't obligated to move ahead with it.
