Patients' rights groups concerned about Quebec's health-care reforms
Patients' rights committees are concerned they won't be heard at the top level of Quebec's proposed health care reform.
If adopted, Bill 15 (An Act to make the health and social services system more effective) would create Sante Quebec, a new crown corporation, which would oversee the day-to-day operations in the province's hospitals, clinics, long-term care homes and rehabilitation centres.
It would be run by a board of directors but groups point out the bill doesn't provide a guarantee a representative for patients at the table.
"If you believe in users' voices and what they have to contribute, losing that voice is regrettable and, in my view, indefensible," said Ingrid Kovitch with the MUHC (Montreal University Health Centre) users' committee.
She believes this could create a disconnect between what's actually happening in health-care facilities and decision-makers.
"Sante Quebec is already very far removed from individual institutions and more importantly from the users which means patients, families, caregivers," she said.
Most institutions in Quebec have their own users' committees to handle complaints, inform patients of their rights and make suggestions to improve services.
Initially, the bill abolished over 150 of them.
That decision was later reversed through amendments.
Sante Quebec's board of directors can consult users' committees, but long-time patient rights advocate Paul Brunet says it doesn't mean their views will be seriously considered.
"The director general can consult users' committees and decide what they will do but what I've seen with these nominations for the past 25 years are people who are very loyal (to the government) and who are not critical," he said.
Bill 15 has over 1,100 articles and is currently being studied at the national assembly.
Health Minister Christian Dube hasn't ruled out using closure to pass the bill before the end of the session in December.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6979388.1722030190!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
BREAKING Celine Dion stages comeback with performance at Paris Olympics opening ceremony
Celine Dion staged the comeback of her career during the opening ceremony at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Paris Olympics kicks off with ambitious but rainy opening ceremony on the Seine River
Celebrating its reputation as a cradle of revolution, Paris kicked off its first Summer Olympics in a century on Friday with a rain-soaked, rule-breaking opening ceremony studded with stars and fantasy along the Seine River.
Jasper wildfire: 'Several weeks' before Jasper can return, premier says
Premier Danielle Smith said Friday afternoon in Hinton while weather conditions are cooler, the Jasper fire is still considered out of control and that Jasper residents can expect to be away from their homes "for several weeks."
Health Canada warns some naloxone kits contain false instructions
Health Canada is warning some take-home naloxone kits come with bad instructions that should be ignored in favour of the correct guidance.
'He was just gone': Police ramp up search for vulnerable 3-year-old boy in Mississauga, Ont.
Police in Mississauga are conducting a full-scale search of the city’s biggest park for a non-verbal toddler who went missing Thursday evening. Sgt. Jennifer Trimble told reporters Friday morning that there has been no trace of three-year-old Zaid Abdullah since 6:20 p.m., when he was last seen with his parents in Erindale Park, near Dundas Street West and Mississauga Road.
Driver charged after flashing high beams at approaching police
Orillia OPP arrested and charged a driver with impaired driving after flashing their high beams.
Irish museum pulls Sinead O'Connor waxwork after just one day due to backlash
An Irish museum will withdraw a waxwork of singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor just one day after installing it, following a backlash from her family and the public, it told CNN in a statement on Friday.
Winnipeg senior's account overdrawn $146,000 for water bill
A Winnipeg senior is getting soaked with a six figure water bill.
Canada's Christine Sinclair: 'We were never shown drone footage'
Canada soccer great Christine Sinclair said on Friday national team players were never shown drone footage during the more than two decades she was on the team, following a spying scandal that cast a shadow over the Canadians at the Paris Games.