Health cuts: Dubé acknowledges that there could be impacts on services
For the first time, Health Minister Christian Dubé recognizes that the return to a balanced budget in the health care network could have an impact on patient services.
In September, the Deputy Minister of Health asked the CEOs of the health network to submit to him as soon as possible a " Costed action plan to redress the financial situation (New window) ».
These measures must not have the effect of affecting services, wrote Deputy Minister Daniel Paré.
It must be said that the estimated deficit of the network was already around a billion dollars after six months of the fiscal year.
However, two days before Santé Québec took office, Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé acknowledged Friday that there could be an impact on services to the population.
I can tell you, with all the transparency, that at the moment, we are looking at everything to be sure that there will be budgetary rigour, and that we will be able to minimize it. And I say it, the right word is to minimize the impact on services.
A quote fromChristian Dubé, Minister of Health
ELSEWHERE ON NEWS: Michel Barnier gone, French political crisis continuesIf we do nothing, [the deficit] could go up to $1.5 billion," said Minister Dubé.
The latter deplored the fact that the CISSS and the CIUSSS provide financial results only every three months with a month's delay. That's not budgetary rigour.
Repercussions in the networkThere have been many examples of the repercussions of a return to a balanced budget in health care in recent weeks.
At the beginning of the month, more than 40 nurse and attendant positions were eliminated at the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l'Île-de-Montréal.
For the past few weeks, institutions have been suspending the posting of positions, whether for nurses, patient attendants or managers.
Several institutions are also delaying infrastructure projects. This is the case, for example, in the Capitale-Nationale and at the CIUSSS de l'Est-de-l'Île-de-Montréal.
In the Laurentians, local elected officials made their concerns known following a meeting with the CISSS.
Playing the clockIn addition, the Minister of Health set the tone for negotiations with doctors for the renewal of agreements worth nearly nine billion dollars.
For the first time, we want to regain control of the envelopes," said Minister Dubé. We have nothing to say about who does what with this money. [...] We have control over 5%; That's ridiculous.
For example, the minister would like to pay doctors who provide home care better than those in family medicine groups (FMGs). With the aging of the population, it is a service that is increasingly in demand.
The minister criticized the doctors' unions for playing the clock, a sports analogy. The union federations [...] have a lot of resistance to change at the bargaining tables.
Called upon to react, the president of the Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec (FMSQ), Dr. Vincent Oliva, published on the X network a photo of himself in the operating room at the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM) adding: "We don't have time to respond to the Minister of Health's remarks; we have more important things to do."
The Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec (FMOQ) lists a succession of questionable ideas launched by Quebec in recent months, including the abrupt end of the Guichet d'accès à la première ligne, the reassignment of family doctors from so-called "healthy" patients to more vulnerable patients according to government criteria, and the proposal to reduce the remuneration of telemedicine consultations.
Quebec's family doctors will continue to relentlessly defend their patients and their rights to access quality medical services, and will loudly denounce anything that is revealed on the merits, such as attempts to cut direct services to patients, it adds.
These measures must not have the effect of affecting services, wrote Deputy Minister Daniel Paré.
It must be said that the estimated deficit of the network was already around a billion dollars after six months of the fiscal year.
However, two days before Santé Québec took office, Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé acknowledged Friday that there could be an impact on services to the population.
I can tell you, with all the transparency, that at the moment, we are looking at everything to be sure that there will be budgetary rigour, and that we will be able to minimize it. And I say it, the right word is to minimize the impact on services.
A quote fromChristian Dubé, Minister of Health
ELSEWHERE ON NEWS: Michel Barnier gone, French political crisis continuesIf we do nothing, [the deficit] could go up to $1.5 billion," said Minister Dubé.
The latter deplored the fact that the CISSS and the CIUSSS provide financial results only every three months with a month's delay. That's not budgetary rigour.
Repercussions in the networkThere have been many examples of the repercussions of a return to a balanced budget in health care in recent weeks.
At the beginning of the month, more than 40 nurse and attendant positions were eliminated at the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l'Île-de-Montréal.
For the past few weeks, institutions have been suspending the posting of positions, whether for nurses, patient attendants or managers.
Several institutions are also delaying infrastructure projects. This is the case, for example, in the Capitale-Nationale and at the CIUSSS de l'Est-de-l'Île-de-Montréal.
In the Laurentians, local elected officials made their concerns known following a meeting with the CISSS.
Playing the clockIn addition, the Minister of Health set the tone for negotiations with doctors for the renewal of agreements worth nearly nine billion dollars.
For the first time, we want to regain control of the envelopes," said Minister Dubé. We have nothing to say about who does what with this money. [...] We have control over 5%; That's ridiculous.
For example, the minister would like to pay doctors who provide home care better than those in family medicine groups (FMGs). With the aging of the population, it is a service that is increasingly in demand.
The minister criticized the doctors' unions for playing the clock, a sports analogy. The union federations [...] have a lot of resistance to change at the bargaining tables.
Called upon to react, the president of the Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec (FMSQ), Dr. Vincent Oliva, published on the X network a photo of himself in the operating room at the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM) adding: "We don't have time to respond to the Minister of Health's remarks; we have more important things to do."
The Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec (FMOQ) lists a succession of questionable ideas launched by Quebec in recent months, including the abrupt end of the Guichet d'accès à la première ligne, the reassignment of family doctors from so-called "healthy" patients to more vulnerable patients according to government criteria, and the proposal to reduce the remuneration of telemedicine consultations.
Quebec's family doctors will continue to relentlessly defend their patients and their rights to access quality medical services, and will loudly denounce anything that is revealed on the merits, such as attempts to cut direct services to patients, it adds.
