Since the beginning of the pandemic, health waiting lists have not only grown for access to a family doctor or for surgeries.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services (MSSS) received by Radio-Canada, the Service Request Dispatch Center’s (CRDS) waiting list for access to a specialist surpassed 720,000 requests per month last May, a high since inception the pandemic.
That’s an increase of nearly 50% from September 2020, with steady increases.
Whether for a dermatologist, an allergist-immunologist, a gynecologist or a gastroenterologist, more patients are waiting and have to wait longer than just 20 months ago.
For all disciplines, the average waiting time for an appointment in September 2020 was almost 9 months. It’s now more than 12 months. In ophthalmology we are approaching two years.
dr Sylvain Dion is the First Vice President of the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec.
Photo: Radio Canada
for dr Sylvain Dion, first vice president of the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec (FMOQ), this situation is untenable.
We can always live with 3 to 6 months but when we reach 12 months it’s really way too far and the patient comes back to us a couple of times a year to talk to us about the health problem we have for already reached our limit, he says.
If a doctor feels that they have reached the limits of their abilities in evaluating and treating a health problem, we certainly will not blame them for having consulted a specialist to help them evaluate and make recommendations for their patient’s follow-up care to be able to help. up, adds Dr. added Dion.
Quebec has almost 11,000 specialist doctors and slightly fewer general practitioners.
“When the government asks GPs to see their patients within 72 hours and I tick off a request for a health issue related to a specialty and I’m told it’s been 12 months since the wait, I tell myself it’s almost two things measure is! »
— A quote from Dr. Sylvain Dion, First Vice President of FMOQ
Response from specialists
for dr Serge Legault, Vice President of the Federation of Medical Specialists of Quebec (FMSQ), we must continue to work on solutions.
dr Serge Legault, Vice President of the Federation of Medical Specialists of Quebec (FMSQ)
Photo: Radio Canada
In gastroenterology or hematology, for example, simple electronic advice or telephone advice [au médecin de famille] could replace the consultation and save the patient a long wait, he says.
Nonetheless, Dr. Legault that it would be a lie to say that all consultations are appropriate. […]but the Omnis are not malicious.
The Vice President of the FMSQ also assumes that there will be duplicates on the CRDS waiting list, particularly in surgery […]where it can go up to 12%.
A monster
dr Dion, a GP in Lac-Etchemin, points out that many colleagues see the CRDS as a monster.
He points out, for example, that if a family doctor has not ticked the correct specialty on the form, he will be asked to fill in another one.
Recently interviewed by the medical journal Profession Santé, a senior MSSS official acknowledged that progress could be made on the CRDS, particularly technologically.
Sources indicate that Quebec and the two medical associations are developing a comprehensive plan to improve the functioning of the referral system to a specialist.