Since its launch across Quebec a year ago, more than 1.5 million calls have been received to the Front Line Access Desk, which will soon be improved to, among other things, provide advice on more than one health issue at the same time, our parliamentary office has learned.
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This is one of the main recommendations that the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, wanted to maintain at the end of an extensive consultation led by the former CEO of the CIUSSS de la Capitale-National, Michel Delamarre, as advisor.
The latter, together with Minister Dubé, will also present the results of his work on Monday in Montreal, the main outlines of which have been obtained by Le Journal (see table).
Despite the criticism, a success
The First Line Access Desk (GAP) was initially launched in Bas-Saint-Laurent in spring 2022 and then expanded to all regions of the province in September 2022. It allows people without a family doctor to call 811, option 3, to make an appointment with a doctor, receive advice on treatment or be referred to a specialist.
The GAP experienced some problems, particularly in its early days, and was often the subject of criticism, often due to long waiting times on the telephone or the small number of appointments offered.
A year after the launch, 5,000 to 7,000 calls are received every day. In the eyes of Minister Dubé, this key element of his plan to rebuild the health network is a success, meeting the objective of improving access to health care while helping to reduce congestion in emergency departments. The challenge now is to improve access… to the access desk.
- Listen to the interview with Mylaine Breton, Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Sherbrooke QUB radio :
Advice
With this in mind, Mr. Dubé tasked Mr. Delamarre with the task of visiting the CAPs in all regions to see what is working well and what can be improved.
From October 2022 to the end of June 2023, 22 companies were visited and almost a thousand people (employees, doctors, managers, users) were met.
“The goal of the process was actually to make observations, identify opportunities for improvement and then make recommendations as part of a continuous improvement process,” Mr. Delamarre explained in an interview.
Former CEO of the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale Michel Delamarre, to whom Health Minister Christian Dubé had given the task of inspecting the front row access desks. Photo Marc-André Gagnon
Among the proposed improvements are the introduction of a telephone callback to avoid being put on hold during the call and the improvement of the service offering, which in this case represents a “work challenge”, Mr acknowledges. Delamarre.
In general, “this access mechanism is a great added value for the population without a family doctor,” says Mr. Delamarre.
Since its launch, the Government of Quebec has invested more than $70 million in the Front Line Access Counter.
Frontline Access Switch (GAP)
Top 3 positive results
Top 3 recommended improvements
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