145,000 patients waiting for operation | Quebec gives two years to capture

(Quebec) We will have to wait until 2023 to address the delays caused by the epidemic in surgeries. Quebec submitted its catch-up plan on Thursday to reduce the waiting list for surgery, which was significantly extended due to the epidemic.

Funny Levesque
Tap

The Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubey, presented on Thursday the major trends of his strategy to capture surgical interventions. The health crisis, especially the first wave in the spring of 2020, increased the waiting list, with operating theaters sometimes operating at 50% of their capacity.

Before the epidemic, about 125,000 people were waiting for surgery. Today, their number is 145,000, including 47,000 who have been waiting more than six months. Others have 19,000 waiting more than a year. Hence the work is heavy.

Quebec hopes to return to “pre-pandemic levels” by March 2023. The year 2021 should allow the authorities to “stabilize” surgical operations at a rate of 100%. Currently, this level is almost 90% due to the loss of epidemic speed in Quebec. About 26,000 operations are performed per month.

By October 2021, that number will increase to 36,000. Especially in 2022, we want to do 5,000 operations per month to reach an average of 40,000 monthly operations.

“Otherwise it takes time and courage to do so,” said Assistant Minister of State for Health and Social Services D.S.^Back Lucy Opportune.

“Perhaps the timeline seems to be too far away in some cases. We know this, but I think it’s our job, then our role should be realistic, “said Health Minister Christian Dubey.

Quebec is giving up the summer to figure out the solutions that will be used to achieve its goals. The catch-up plan should be implemented in the fall. Mr Dubey said health workers – at the end of their rope – wanted to take a vacation. He recalled that the vaccination campaign continued throughout the summer.

“What we do not want to do, especially during an epidemic, is to bring in advance the solutions we impose on our partners,” Mr. Dubey explained.

The Legalt government is still in talks with health network employees to renew their collective agreement. Employment contracts are terminated in the event of a health emergency.

Quebec has entered into 25 agreements with private medical clinics to expedite the resumption of operations. D. that will continue to be “an important part of the solution” to capture the private sector^Back Opportunity. The “majority” contracts with these clinics are for two years.

The implementation of this future catch-up plan has not yet been calculated, but Minister Christian Dubey has argued that it is a “financial problem”[était] Not a share ”.

Provide for a “invisible” list

The health minister explained that in the summer patients from the “invisible list” would be able to come to their attending physician. Over a one-year period, officials observed a 24% decrease in consultations and requests for activity, compared to the level observed before the epidemic.

It is therefore not an exaggeration to estimate that “thousands” of cases could be added to the current waiting list.

She said those currently on the list for more than six months will be given “priority” for surgery “in the next few months”. Minister Christian Dubey went a little further by confirming that he hopes to “contact these people, by the end of the summer”.

Mr Dubey assured that his teams could follow the reduction in the waiting list in real time after finalizing the plan to measure progress. For oncology patients, the average time for surgical intervention in Quebec is 17 days, despite the epidemic, qualifying for D^Back Be careful.

The goal is to reduce the average waiting time for all other activities to six months or less. The target is to be partially reached by March 2023. To achieve this fully, d^Back Opatrney predicts it will take another year, leading to March 2024.