Legault threatens legislation to force family doctors to take on more patients
Premier François Legault is threatening short-term legislation to force family doctors to take on more patients.
In his inaugural speech on Tuesday, he said he was getting impatient and on Wednesday, in a press scrum, he went further to say that legislation would soon be considered if doctors do not comply quickly.
With only a few months to go before the election, the Legault government and the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens (FMOQ), which refuses to take the hard way, are set to engage in an arm wrestling match.
This is not the first time that the tone has been raised and that Premier Legault has threatened to brandish the legislative stick if doctors do not submit to Quebec's ultimatum, except that now, time time is running out, as the government is in the last year of its mandate, while the situation has continued to deteriorate.
In 2018, Legault's Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) had pledged to provide a family doctor to all Quebecers by the end of the mandate. At the time, there were 400,000 patients on the waiting list. Now, there are twice as many, more than 800,000, making the promise difficult -- if not impossible -- to keep by October 2022.
To hopefully reverse this trend, the premier said he is prepared to go "as far as a bill."
The fewer patients who have a family doctor, the more crowded hospital emergency rooms and walk-in clinics become.
In the past, however, wielding the stick rather than the carrot in front of doctors has yielded few results other than mutual distrust and a growing climate of tension between Quebec and the medical profession. Former health minister Gaétan Barrette had adopted Bill 20 in 2015, providing for financial penalties to be imposed on physicians who did not meet the government's productivity targets.
To explain the constant increase in the number of patients without a doctor, the FMOQ defended itself by arguing that there is a shortage of about 1,000 family physicians in Quebec, that general practitioners are required to work in CHSLDs and hospitals, which reduces their availability in the office, and that retirements are increasing.
The federation added that it is not true that physicians have a low productivity rate, when, on average, they work about 45 hours a week.
Family physicians take between 1,000 and 2,000 patients under their wing. However, having your name on a doctor's patient list does not automatically guarantee access to care or an appointment at the desired time.
At the same time, the government wants to impose a change in the way doctors are compensated in the near future, whereby fee-for-service payment would be replaced, in part, by the number of patients on their list. Quebec believes this could also help facilitate access to a family doctor.
-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 20, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Demonstrators kicked out of Ontario legislature for disruption after failed keffiyeh vote
A group of demonstrators were kicked out of the legislature after a second NDP motion calling for unanimous consent to reverse a ban on the keffiyeh failed to pass.
RCMP uncovers alleged plot by 2 Montreal men to illegally sell drones, equipment to Libya
The RCMP says it has uncovered a plot by two men in Montreal to sell Chinese drones and military equipment to Libya illegally.
Government agrees to US$138.7M settlement over FBI's botching of Larry Nassar assault allegations
The U.S. Justice Department announced a US$138.7 million settlement Tuesday with more than 100 people who accused the FBI of grossly mishandling allegations of sexual assault against Larry Nassar in 2015 and 2016, a critical time gap that allowed the sports doctor to continue to prey on victims before his arrest.
BREAKING Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Man wanted in connection with deadly shooting in Toronto tops list of most wanted fugitives in Canada
A 35-year-old man wanted in connection with the murder of Toronto resident 29-year-old Sharmar Powell-Flowers nine months ago has topped the list of the BOLO program’s 25 most wanted fugitives across Canada, police announced Tuesday.
Doctors ask Liberal government to reconsider capital gains tax change
The Canadian Medical Association is asking the federal government to reconsider its proposed changes to capital gains taxation, arguing it will affect doctors' retirement savings.