MONTREAL - Manpower shortages in Quebec hospitals will be a problem not just in the nursing sector but in many other hospital jobs within five years.
According Health Ministry documents obtained by the Canadian Press, the shortage of nursing aides will explode by 900 percent, otherwise put, the total openings that hospitals will be unable to fill will multiply by 11 times within that group.
The shortage of clerks and social workers will triple and while the nursing shortage will double.
The Quebec forecasts could be catastrophic for patients, particularly the elderly, says the Parti Quebecois.
But Health Minister Yves Bolduc has been more reassuring and has stated that the public will not suffer. Bolduc says he has faith that health workers will fill the void.
"When there's a 10 to 15 percent shortage, regardless of the sector, the labor force is capable of compensating," he argued. "It is a sector where the workers have a lot of heart."
Of 12 job categories considered vulnerable by the department, only four - occupational therapists, speech therapists, medical electro-physiology technicians and nuclear medicine technicians - should see an improvement in their situation within five years.
The situation is worsening, however, for eight other jobs: nurses, nursing assistants, orderlies, physiotherapists, pharmacists, school, psychologists, social workers and medical technologists.
The government document predicts that by 2015-2016 it will be unable to fill psychologist posts in five of the public networks, which represents 547 job openings, twice the current totals. There is currently a shortage of 233 psychologists in the provincial health system, which is 10 percent of the overall totals.
Bolduc's views do not appear to be widely shared within the public system. The worker shortage could have a large impact on patients by 2015, according to the representatives of the professional health workers.
"It means there will be fewer people to provide services," said Michel Mailhot, vice president of the Federation of Inter-professional health of Quebec (FIQ), the union representing the majority of nurses in Quebec.
"It means waiting longer in emergency rooms, waiting longer for surgery as well because these shortages will also be in the operating room."
The president of the College of Psychologists, Rose-Marie Charest, calls these new forecasts very disturbing. She says current working conditions are pushing many to open or join private firms.
"Psychologists who work in the public system earn a lot less," said Ms. Charest. "Perhaps there is a limit to what we can tolerate in terms of the differences in wages between the private and public sectors."
Patients in the public network must already wait months before getting a first appointment with a psychologist and the problem will worsen, said Rose-Marie Charest.
Bolduc argues that employees can do more. His ministry's projections should be taken with a grain of salt, he said in a telephone interview.
"Everyone has been predicting shortages for the 26 years I've been in the health network," he said.
The Minister argued that students are increasingly attracted to the health professions and some jobs require a short training, such as orderlies and could fill vacancies quickly.
"We should be able to beat the manpower shortage, but I'm not saying there will not be some shortage ', he admitted.
Agnès Maltais Health Critic for the Parti Quebecois said that, "nurses and nursing assistants are the two job categories that provide real care," she said.
"There is already a nursing shortage in many regions of Quebec, and there is a serious problem coming."
Maltais says the Quebec government must offer "super-nurses" and pharmacists more latitude to treat minor illnesses.
Working conditions, including flexible working hours, should also be improved, according to Agnes Maltais.
