Quebec's Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, and the President of the Federation of Medical Specialists of Quebec (FMSQ), Dr. Vincent Oliva, announced a principle agreement today, Thursday, aimed at "improving access to specialist doctors."

Several hundred doctors, especially those working in private clinics, will have to provide a few hours per week, whether for emergency care, follow-up of patients after hospital admission, or care for patients who are waiting.

The contribution of these doctors who do not practice in a network institution will also be determined through Specific Medical Activities (SMA) according to local, regional, and national needs, as stated in the press release.

Terms and conditions for each specialty will be negotiated separately, no later than November 2024.

At the same time, there are 825,000 patients on the waiting list for specialist doctor consultations.

This represents an increase of more than 50% since the start of the pandemic in 2020. This does not take into account the proportion of patients considered out of the designated time frame, which has increased from approximately 35% to 60%.

Whether you need a dermatologist consultation, an allergy and immunology specialist, a gynecologist, or a gastroenterologist, a larger number of patients are waiting and have to wait longer in most specialties.

The Ministry of Health has ensured the public release of these data in its "dashboard" for several months.

During the presentation of the massive Health Bill last March, Minister Dubé repeatedly wondered whether it was normal for such a large number of users to wait for care in the hospital.

He said efficiency [...] means less waiting in the emergency room or for surgery.

In the same context, the government and the Quebec Federation of Medical Specialists (FMSQ) signed a first agreement last May aiming to reduce the number of patients waiting for surgical intervention for more than a year to 2,500 by the end of 2024. There are nearly 14,000, according to the latest data.

Such targets do not appear in the new agreement concluded with the Quebec Federation of Medical Specialists (FMSQ).

According to Liberal Health spokesperson André Fortin, we will judge the agreement based on its results, because so far, whether for waiting lists for consultations or surgeries or waiting times in the emergency room, Mr. Dubé may announce plan after plan, but the outcome is failure after failure.

The detailed study of Bill 15 is also scheduled to resume next week, with the hope of its approval by the end of the parliamentary session next December. About half of the materials in the legislative article have been adopted so far.