The bill to modify doctors' remuneration: "The nail in the coffin of the profession"

The bill to amend physicians' remuneration, presented Thursday by Health Minister Christian Dubé, is "the nail in the coffin of the profession," worries a family doctor from the Beauce region.

"It's a lack of respect and a sign of incomprehension of his own network and, unfortunately, it will probably be the nail in the coffin of the profession if he goes ahead," says Dr. Patricia Caron, family physician at the Saint-Gédéon Medical Clinic.

Dr. Caron launched a heartfelt plea on social media following the announcement of Minister Dubé's bill demanding greater performance. Many colleagues expressed their despair to her, many considering leaving the health care sector for another field, only to go down with it. The same question keeps coming up: "How can they respond to such a ludicrous request?"

Dr. Patricia Caron Photo Sarah Tailleur - photographer

"Just because he's going to pass his law doesn't mean everyone will get care. We already have insufficient supplies, and unfortunately, what this law will do is make colleagues who have been thinking about it for a while now leave," continues Dr. Caron.

The family doctor believes that she and her colleagues are operating in a "sick system, with outdated infrastructure and technology from the 1970s."

Enough of the “doctor bashing”

A little further north, Dr. Sophie Leclerc, a physician from Havre-Saint-Pierre, says she is fed up with the "heaviness" and "doctor bashing that is intensifying on the part of the government."

In a message also published on social media and re-shared hundreds of times, the 30-year-old doctor claims to be increasing the number of treatments in the region and that "the lemon is being squeezed."

"I work 60 hours a week, I take little or no vacation, I teach, I go to a CHSLD," lists Dr. Leclerc. "If I'm asked to work more and be more efficient, I don't know how I could do it."

Hitting rock bottom

On Wednesday, Prime Minister François Legault launched a broadside against the Fédération des general practitioners du Québec, stating that approximately one-third of doctors "need to do more."

"The government is asking us to be everywhere at once. There's nothing substantial about it, and the expectations are completely unrealistic," denounces Dr. Leclerc. "By focusing on numbers and performance indicators, we forget that there are people behind this who need time and care."

Dr. Caron concludes by saying that elected officials should listen to people on the ground to find solutions and also be accountable for the current reality.

"We've been sinking for years, and now we're hitting rock bottom. It's the population who will pay for these bad decisions," she concludes.