Nurse-only clinics are a cost-effective way improve access to health care, according to the Quebec Nurses Federation.
The federation released the findings of a pilot project Thursday involving a clinic in Quebec City.
It was staffed by four people, including a nurse practitioner, a nurse and a caseworker, and they saw 750 patients in an eight-month period and made 1,700 consultations. In 85 per cent of those cases, the nurse practitioner was able to resolve the problem without a doctor.
They treated minor things like colds, pneumonia, ear aches, vaccinations and the nurse practitioner can order tests.
“We’re directly in touch with the patient and we answer the needs and we're able to answer quickly if a patient needs to be seen by a specialist. We transfer them, we send them with an evaluation so when they get to the doctor's office they've already had an evaluation done,” said Maureen Guthrie, a nurse at the clinic.
The care was provided free of charge but the average cost to provide that care was an average of $68 per visit for an estimated savings to the public health care system of $118,000
The nurses say there is a lot less red tape and people feel better more quickly.
At this point, the government says it is still committed to family medical clinics that include doctors. An aide to the health minister said the department is studying ways to keep funding the pilot project and how nurses-only clinics might be applied elsewhere in the province.
