A controversial health care bill that would impose a quota of patients on doctors is in committee study at the National Assembly. One of the proposals in Bill 20 would penalize doctors if they don’t see more patients.
But how many more patients doctors will have to see has not yet been decided by the Liberal government. Health Minister Gaetan Barrette says he first wants to hear what people have to say at the hearings, which began Tuesday.
When Bill 20 was introduced in the fall of 2014, doctors were seeing on average 564 patients a year. Barrette says he wants to see that number go up to 1,000 patients.
Doctors who don’t meet the patient quota could see their salaries cut by up to 30%.
Opposition parties are worried that forcing doctors to see more patients will create “assembly line” practices, with doctors mainly seeing patients who take less of their time.
Barrette says doctors are underperforming and the system needs new rules for the public to have better access to healthcare.
A Quebec patients committee expects much more from doctors and stated at the hearing on Tuesday that doctors can see up to 1,700 patients a year. Pierre Blain, of the Regroupement provincial des Comités d’Usagers, said doctors simply have to find a way to reorganize the way they work.
The Quebec College of Physicians opposes the changes in Bill 20, saying penalizing doctors for not meeting quotas has not worked in the past.
Dr. Yves Robert, the college's secretary, said Barrette has to explain the bill much better than he has.
"What will be the requirement to each individual physician and what impact will it have and the change of practice for those physicians? This is what is impossible to ascertain right now," he said.
In another controversial healthcare reform, the Liberal government invoked closure in order to pass Bill 10, a bill that overhauled regional health boards in order to eliminate hundreds of middle-management positions.
Hearings on Bill 20 continue until Thursday, then resume for another five days starting March 17.
