Patients are the heart of our healthcare and social services system. We have to adapt the way we do things to better meet their needs, and also to improve the working environments of the people who care for them day in and day out. That is why Philippe Couillard has announced a series of measures that the Quebec Liberal Party would take to address this issue.
During a second term, a QLP government will:
- Increase the availability of home care to improve patients’ quality of life by investing an additional $200 million annually to add staff in this sector;
- Meet growing labour needs by making it easier to attract and hire orderlies through a massive advertising campaign for that job and by establishing a co-op training program in all regions of Québec;
- Follow up on the ongoing professional-to-patient ratio pilot projects in order to review the make-up of healthcare teams and to train and hire staff accordingly;
- Continue to deploy and hire 2,000 specialized nurse practitioners by 2024-2025, work with professional orders to relax the regulations around their practice and help develop initiatives inspired by the Archimède project throughout Québec, in order to increase patient intake by family medicine groups through increased collaboration with specialized nurse practitioners;
- Take the necessary measures to help general practitioners and specialists better meet Quebecers’ needs and expectations:
- The penalties provided in the framework will be applied if the goals expected for December 31, 2018, are not met;
- 90% of the population will have access to a family doctor by the end of the term, with a 95% patient fidelity rate.
- An accountability process will be implemented for medical offices’ fees.
The financial framework will ensure stable, predictable financing of healthcare and social services and will finance these measures. A minimum increase of 4.2% is provided for the ministry’s program spending, and could be greater if the economic context allows it. Note that no additional amount is planned for medical pay.
