A group of general practitioners is holding a summit Saturday and Sunday aimed at coming up with alternatives to Bill 20, the Liberal government’s health care reform plan.
The members of the Regroupement des medecins omnipraticiens pour une medecine engagee, or ROME, say they refuse to have any law imposed on them that targets their dignity and integrity, hampers their ability to practise medicine and puts the health care system in peril.
PQ MNA and health critic Diane Lamarre was on hand and blasted the reform as “simplistic,” saying trying to solve such a complex problem with this law won’t work.
“If he really wants to improve the situation, [Health Minister Gaetan Barrette] must bring together all stakeholders and encourage their mobilization around realistic solutions,” she said.
Lamarre also stressed the importance of developing solutions based on the needs of the population, and not on those of health professionals.
Topics for the summit include looking at ways to optimize the experience of those with chronic illnesses and for disadvantaged clientele and trying to borrow British Colombia’s General Practice Services Committees, which decentralize power in the system, giving the local health authorities more control.
