The Quebec Federation of Medical Specialists (FMSQ) begins a new stage of its pressure tactics on Monday, as its negotiations with Quebec drag on.
Specialist physicians are ceasing to offer appointments through the Service Request Distribution Centres (SRDC) platform.
This appointment center distributes consultation requests from general practitioners and nurse practitioners to specialist physicians.
Consultations will now be offered via “alternative mechanisms”. Professionals referring their patients to specialists will have to do so directly by email, for example.
The FMSQ believes this pressure tactic should not have negative effects on patients. According to its president, Dr. Vincent Oliva, the impacts will be rather “positive,” because the CRDS platform has always been “completely dysfunctional.”
Health Minister Sonia Bélanger hopes that patients will not be affected by this new form of pressure. Last week, she stated that she would be monitoring the situation closely.
Only 20 per cent of appointments go through the CRDS; the government would like it to be 100 per cent.
This new means of exerting pressure comes in addition to the cessation of participation of specialist doctors in the Digital Health Record and in medico-administrative activities.
The framework agreement with specialist doctors expired on March 31, 2023.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
