Emergency room flooding: ‘It can be a tough summer,’ says Minister Dube

The alarm was sounded on Monday by senior hospital emergency physiciansA letter obtained by Radio Canada sparked many reactions.

About sixty doctors from the Regroupement des chefs d’urgence du Québec (RCUQ) believe that the quality of care is at risk and that this Many preventable deaths have been reported […] In recent months, due to lack of access to a stretcher and the care that the case requires.

It requires hospital beds to be opened rather than partially closed during the summer period.

According to Dr. Jodi Morris, MD, an emergency physician at Hospital Sacred Heart in Montreal and president of the Association of Emergency Physicians of Quebec (AMUQ), It is necessary to hurry [d’agir] It is felt by everyone in the network, because we have the impression that we are the only ones who are subject to it, the pressure.

The government and the ministry should put pressure on health institutions […] Be responsible and accountableDr. Morris says.

According to the president of AMUQ, Teams can almost never be regularly asked to operate at 150 to 200% of their capacityOtherwise, she warns, exhaustion and departure will double.

For his part, the Secretary of Health and Social Services has not publicly expressed the same sense of urgency as the doctors.

First, it is not a surprise, as we know that summer is always difficult in the health network when the holidays arrive.Christian Dube commented.

Moreover, the latter does not intend to interfere with the granting of summer vacation. It’s an obligation by nurses, we have to give our due leaveMinister says.

” Yes, it can be a tough summer, I said, but I think we’re putting together things that will help us. »

According to available data collected by Radio Canada, the percentage of patients on stretchers who spend more than 24 hours in the emergency room has risen from about 17% when the Avenir Coalition of Quebec (CAQ) came to power in 2018 to nearly 22% in the past . general.

Since the start of the holidays in the health sector, a week ago, this rate has ranged between 24% and 32%.

“Summon the investigative judge”

When asked at the entrance to a parliamentary committee, Quebec Solidere spokesperson in the matter of health, Vincent Marisal, believes that The first thing to do is to contact the head of forensic medicine because doctors have talked about preventable deaths.

Among the solutions he proposes, We must reopen the first line so that the small sores do not end up in the hospitalsays the deputy. Unfortunately, nothing has been done about this in four years […] And the minister always comes up with solutions within a year.

For its part, Dominique Engled, leader of the Liberal Party in Quebec, lamented the lack of family doctors and the impact on attendance at the emergency room.

When the CAQ came to power, 400,000 people were waiting for a family doctor, while today there are more than a million waiting! [Et] Because the first line is not convenient, it overflows in our emergencyas you say.

According to Joel Arsenault, Third Opposition Group leader and health critic, Party Quebec, It’s a good illustration of the fact that we, at CAQ, are always behind on news and issues, and have no ability to anticipate.

According to the latter, If we took care of non-emergency cases in the local clinics of the local health care service centers, we wouldn’t be there.

Québec Solidaire MNA Vincent Marisal.

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Photo: Radio Canada/Sylvain Roy Roussel

MUHC supports emergency heads

When asked to comment, most health facilities directed us to MSSS.

At McGill University Health Center (MUHC), media relations consultant Annie Claire Fournier explained via email that We read with interest the letter signed by the emergency chiefs addressed to all network executives and published today. The movement of the emergency room over the past few weeks is really worrying, and we recognize that this situation is having an impact on our patients and their families, on our staff and on our doctors..

” We also share the position of emergency medical leaders in Quebec that the pressure must be distributed throughout the entire health care system, in order to allow emergency rooms to perform their primary task, which is to provide urgent care to patients whose condition requires it. »

in CISSS From Laval, spokeswoman Marie-Yves Despatie Gagnon specify by email that the foundation He is among those who do not turn to TSO [heures supplémentaires obligatoires, NDLR] Throughout the health network in Quebec […] Which many different projects are evaluated to further reduce the use of TSOincluding project self-management schedules.

It also notes that the Cité-de-la-Santé Hospital is re-evaluating the importance of keeping about fifteen stretchers that were added to the 49 in the emergency room during the pandemic, in order to ensure a safe distance.