The Quebec government and the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec (FMOQ) have reached an agreement on the front-line access window (GAP).
This is what the FMOQ confirmed to La Presse at the end of the day Thursday. Details of the agreement are not yet known.
Health Minister Christian Dubé indicated earlier this morning that he expected a “response today” from family doctors. The union spoke of a possible “outcome” in the coming hours.
According to the Minister of Health, “significant progress” was made during the negotiations yesterday. But the outcome of these remains uncertain.
“It can go one way or the other,” said Christian Dubé during a press scrum at the Palais des congrès de Montréal, where he delivered a speech this afternoon to the Montreal Chamber of Commerce metropolitan. “I think we agreed it needed an answer today. »
Present at the Minister of Health’s conference, the president of the FMOQ, Dr. Marc-André Amyot, indicated “that within the next few hours, there could be certain outcomes.” “Good discussions” are taking place, he says.
“I think that if both sides compromise, we could reach an agreement,” he said, adding that another 24 to 48 hours could be needed to achieve this.
The agreement between Quebec and the FMOQ on the GAP ended on June 1. Since this date, family doctors are no longer entitled to a bonus of $120 when they see an orphan or a patient in collective care during a consultation.
This famous $120 bonus is at the heart of the current negotiations. Would the FMOQ accept a reduction? “It’s part of the discussions that are underway,” replied its president. He recalls that family doctors used this bonus to “hire staff, rent premises to be able to accommodate more patients” in their clinic.
Patients are suffering from the end of this agreement. According to groups of emergency doctors, more Quebecers without a family doctor are going to the emergency rooms of certain hospitals because they cannot obtain a medical appointment at the GAP.
Since June 1, the number of medical appointments offered through the GAP has dropped drastically. According to the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS), 5,841 medical consultations were available through the GAP as of June 6 for the week of the 15th. Quebec usually counts between 18,000 and 23,000 per week.
“At the moment, the emergency is unfortunately the alternative that many people are taking,” Christian Dubé admitted in the press scrum. But when we call the GAP, people can be referred to a pharmacist – you have seen how we have extended services – they can go to a CLSC where a specialized nurse practitioner can also take care of them. »
Christian Dubé underlines that doctors have continued to offer availability to GAP since the end of the agreement. Appointments are also available at medical clinics. In total, around 300,000 medical consultations are given each week by family doctors in Quebec, he said.
