Quebec health minister admits province falls short on waiting lists for surgery and ER wait times

Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé admitted Thursday two of the key measures of the health-care plan he put forward two years ago — reducing wait lists for surgeries and reducing wait times in emergency rooms — aren't happening as quickly as he had promised.

Dubé tried to put a positive spin on things when he presented an update on the progress of his plan to reporters at the National Assembly Thursday, highlighting other areas where the government has made progress. But he admitted that the challenges in improving the health-care system are tougher than he ever imagined.

"It's probably the most difficult file I've had, but I didn't expect it would be so difficult," Dubé told reporters.

Thousands wait more than a year for surgery

There are currently around 10,700 Quebecers who've been waiting for surgery for more than a year. The government's initial target was to reduce that to 2,500 by Dec. 31. Dubé admitted the government won't hit that target, and he couldn't say when it might be achieved.

"It's probably the file that upsets me the most," Dubé said.

He did note that at the end of the pandemic there were 23,000 people waiting more than a year for surgery, and that number has been reduced significantly.

Dubé said he expects the new contract signed with the provincial nurses' union, which allows for nurses to work more overtime hours, will help.

"It took much longer than we were expecting to sign with the nurses. I'm not complaining. I'm just saying I'm pleased that this is being signed," Dubé said.

He estimates the rearranging of nurses' schedules in operating rooms set to take effect in January will prevent the cancellation of up to 150 surgeries a day across the province that is routinely happening now.

ER wait times well above target

For emergency rooms, Dubé's goal was to reduce the time spent waiting to see a doctor to 90 minutes. Patients right now routinely spend hours waiting in ERs.

Dubé pointed out that this was a problem with no easy solution, and that ER wait times in Quebec are about the same as in other provinces.

"It's not an excuse, but we all have the same problem," he said.

Dubé said improving access to clinics and general practitioners should help prevent many people from going to the ER for non-severe medical issues.

He said the success of the province's Guichet d'accès à la première ligne (GAP) program, which helps people who don't have a family doctor get treatment, shows the government is on the right track.

Dubé said the province is making significant progress in other areas. Of the 50 objectives laid out in his original plan, he said the government had achieved or partially achieved 48.

These include things such as reducing mandatory overtime for nurses, increasing enrolment in medical schools and reducing paperwork for doctors.

But Dubé admitted that's not enough.

"Often people say, 'I'm still waiting for my surgery,' and it's that that upsets me the most," he said.

Opposition parties say Dubé's plan a failure

Opposition parties said people are tired of Dubé's false promises.

"Quebecers are living the failure of Christian Dubé on a day-to-day basis. There are people this morning who were waiting up to 10 hours in emergency rooms across the province," Liberal health critic André Fortin said.

"There are people who are waiting well beyond the medically acceptable times to to get their surgeries. These are all things that he promised to address and he failed to address," Fortin said.

"Whatever Mr. Dubé wants to put forward today, let's face the fact that's not what we're seeing on the ground," Quebec Solidaire MNA Guillaume Cliche-Rivard said.

"In the past six years, access to health care in Quebec has deteriorated," Parti Québécois health critic Joël Arsenau said.

"That's what we see, that's what we hear, that's what the population really believes," he said.

Dubé disagreed.

"I think we need to change that that mentality that we're not succeeding. And that's the reason I took a lot of time to give you about 20 examples of things that we have done that are successful," he said.