Health minister in listening mode as doctors, nurses give feedback on Quebec's health reform bill

Consultations on the health network reform tabled by Christian Dubé resumed on Tuesday and the minister intends to listen to the professional orders, federations of doctors and unions that will appear in turn before the elected officials.

In a press scrum just before the hearings began, Dubé said he wanted to talk about "subsidiarity," a principle according to which higher levels should only keep for themselves the tasks that can't be done by lower levels. Again, he was emphasizing that his goal is to decentralize the system, while the opposition sees it as the reverse.

Bill 15, entitled "An Act to make the health and social services system more efficient," includes the creation of the Santé Québec agency, a Crown corporation to oversee the operations of the network. The ministry would retain its role in setting directions and determining budgets.

From the first testimony of the day, from the president of the Ordre des infirmières auxiliaires, Carole Grant, the minister reiterated his openness by saying that "it is not time to make decisions, but time to listen."

The elected officials spent a lot of time discussing the scope of the auxiliaries' field of competence in relation to the tasks they're entrusted with in practice. According to the order, the potential of nursing assistants is greatly under-exploited due to a lack of knowledge about their skills.

At the end of the morning, the president of the Collège des médecins du Québec (CMQ), Dr. Mauril Gaudreault, spoke in favour of maintaining the principle of co-management between physicians and administrators in the network. The minister maintained that co-management must be part of the culture of the network and not necessarily the subject of a section of the law.

In the same vein, the CMQ believes that to ensure the effectiveness of physicians promoted to decision-making roles, they must be well trained, well supported and, above all, have the resources they need.

According to Gaudreault, to truly improve access to care, the bill must "get out of the hospitals." This means strengthening front-line services and making greater use of paramedics.

He also gave his support to users' committees, which, in his opinion, must be recognized and considered as important partners in the network.

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This report by The Canadian Press wa sfirst published in French on May 9, 2023.