On December 21st, my one-year-old son and I lost our family doctor. The Dubé reform, already tempted by the private sector, would be the final straw for him.
• Also read: Health care reform: Bill 15 is approved subject to conditions
• Also read: Bill 15: Christian Dubé has a message for Quebecers
As soon as Bill 15 was presented by the Minister of Health, my doctor announced that he would retire from public service due to two articles contained in it.
In its original version, the Dubé reform stipulated that all doctors must apply to the CIUSSS in their region to work in public institutions. Doctors who refuse to do so will no longer be able to bill the Régie de l'assurance santé du Québec (RAMQ).
I met my GP more than 15 years ago when he worked in a CLSC. For several years he was one of the 3,300 family doctors who practiced exclusively in the practice.
He set up his individual clinic close to the community to offer a public service. It was always easy to make an appointment for him a few hours later. With my son, we never had to go to the emergency room or wait on the phone for hours hoping to see a doctor at a clinic.
Too fast?
Last winter, after the bill was introduced, my doctor told his clients that he would not follow the reform. One reform too many in his career, he said.
He did not want to have any connection with the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale. He will be retiring in a few years and he wanted to continue his private practice quietly, far away from the chaos of the network.
He then urged all his patients to call the RAMQ so that they could get themselves removed from the list and registered with the First Line Access Center (GAP) before December 21, 2023. “After careful consideration,” he told his patients, he will continue his practice in the same office, but privately.
However, the minister submitted hundreds of amendments in batches this fall.
With these changes, which were not publicly announced, the minister waived the obligations that put my doctor off. However, doctors were not informed of the changes. The bill was approved on Saturday without examining all articles.
The Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec (FMOQ) must send a letter to its members this Friday to present the main changes and the progress made.
Pretext?
It will be too late for my family doctor. The transition is already complete.
If I want to continue seeing him, I now have to pay a minimum fee of $150 per year and spend an additional few dozen dollars each time I visit.
I decided not to share my doctor's name out of respect for his years of service to my family and because he didn't want to argue publicly.
On the poster at the entrance to his practice he asked his patients to speak to their MP for further explanations.
However, given the bill that has been passed, I hope that it has not misled us all. I sincerely hope that this was not an easy excuse to abandon his patients at the expense of private practice, like 500 of his colleagues. Okay, now I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't get sick.
What the FMOQ says:
“On the one hand, we could not assume that every article and proposed amendment would be voted on in the committee and in Parliament. We wanted to give doctors a real and definitive picture of the final passage of PL 15. And it is up to the government to explain its legislative initiatives and the process involved. This just shows that playing with legal articles that regulate the professional life of individuals is unfortunately not without consequences. For the doctor leaving the public system, it certainly makes us extremely sad.”
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