With flu season in full swing in Quebec, winter clinics are not responding to high demand, and it is virtually impossible to get an appointment, found The newspaper.
After having tested about twenty winter clinics in the greater Montreal area for several hours over the past few days, The newspaper concludes that it is very difficult to see a doctor quickly in the public system.
“I will not try to convince you that it is wonderful and that everything is full of oil at the moment,” admits the president of the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec (FMOQ), Louis Godin.
Established until March to offer more time slots to patients, winter clinics do not have a single appointment scheduling system. For an unaccustomed patient, it is easy to get lost.
In fact, the patient must contact each clinic according to the method used (telephone, internet or on site). Many clinics direct patients to the Bonjour-santé paid site.
On this online platform, The newspaper succeeded in obtaining a single appointment, out of 10 attempts. By phone, the hours were all full and the secretary asked to call back.
Screenshot
Some calendars of flu clinics are even full for the entire month of January.
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Other clinics require patients to come in early in the morning. However, it is impossible to know how many appointments will be available.
“The doctor who decides”
“It is first come, first served. The doctor decides how many numbers he will take, “replied the Newspaper the secretary of the Le Plein Ciel clinic in Montreal.
Influenza clinics have been established for two years during the winter to prevent patients with minor problems from having to go to a hospital emergency room.
This year, in theory, 58 winter clinics offer 20,000 hours of consultation (twice as much as last year). According to the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS), these clinics are committed to offering appointments every week, and they must be offered the same day.
An objective far removed from the observation of Newspaper. In some places, the calendars display “full” for the whole month, while it is only January 14th. On this subject, the direction of the ministry does not hide that the demand is strong currently.
“If it weren’t for that, it would be even worse,” said Marie-Claude Lacasse, spokesperson for the MSSS.
System to be refined
Another problem: many winter clinics only accept adults. Yet the ministry says clinics must “cater to all types of clients, regardless of age. ”
For its part, the FMOQ recalls that this service offer is new and that it will have to be revised to be more effective in the future.
“It’s not perfect, but there is an additional service offer being given,” says Dr. Louis Godin. We will have to refine all that. ”
– With the collaboration of Hugo Duchaine
- 58 participating medical clinics
- Active from December 2 to March 31
- 20,000 hours of consultations offered
- Budget of $ 3 million (medical procedures and office expenses)
Who is eligible?
Everyone, the patient does not need to have a family doctor in the clinic to be admitted.
What medical problems are treated?
Flu-like symptoms or gastroenteritis, or any minor, non-urgent infection.
Worst emergency room occupancy rates yesterday
- Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts | 200%
- Royal Victoria (MUHC, Montreal) | 188%
- Mont-Laurier | 180%
- Saint-Hyacinthe | 177%
- Jewish General Hospital (Montreal) | 170%
Source: Ministry of Health
Nearly four times more requests
informationArchive photo, Chantal Poirier
Benoit Brunel
President of Bonjour-santé
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Hugo Duchaine, The Journal de Montréal
The demand for a medical appointment has been nearly four times greater than usual in recent weeks according to Bonjour-santé.
“There was more availability, the [médecins] have put their shoulders to the wheel, but the demand is so strong that it does not appear, “said president and founder Benoit Brunel.
The online appointment booking system has seen a surge in demand as doctors take time off. On the other hand, Mr. Brunel underlines that there has been a “good effort” deployed by the health network with the winter clinics.
“But it was demand that completely overshadowed these efforts. And it’s hard to say it works well when people on the other end of the line don’t have the services, “he said.
He believes demand will start to falter this week, and it will be easier to get a medical appointment again.
“Frustrating”
“It was frustrating not to be able to have space. Winter clinics are a good idea, but you have to be able to go, “said Montrealer Karine Lapointe.
She made several attempts last week to get an appointment with Bonjour-santé, but to no avail. However, almost all of the winter clinics she tried to reach redirected her to this website.
“When you’re sick, you can’t handle it all in your head,” she said.
She was trying to access the time slots that clinics made available at specific times, but everything was still complete.
Only one clinic, in the Pointe-aux-Trembles neighborhood, asked him to go there and arrive early, but he was not guaranteed an appointment. It depended on the number of patients the doctor (s) on site agreed to see.
Too much expected
The 33-year-old woman, who did not want to go to the emergency room when she thought she had only bronchitis, had to go to the hospital by ambulance after a few days of fruitless efforts.
She finally suffered from pneumonia.
Other patients said Newspaper being unable to obtain an appointment, while some said they were luckier.
On the South Shore, Johannie Roy Trudeau also never managed to obtain a medical appointment online or on the phone. She went there to make sure her daughter saw a doctor, even though she was told the clinic was fully booked.
The newspaper has made about 20 calls and online registration attempts to have an appointment at an influenza clinic in the past few days in the greater Montreal area. Here are examples of responses:
Ormstown medical center, Montérégie
The newspaper failed to get the line.
Mercier medical clinic, Montérégie
Full for the day, call back next week.
CISSS Montérégie-Center
No time slot in January.
Pointe-aux-Trembles Polyclinic (Montreal)
Full for the day, try again next week. Despite information from the CIUSSS that the winter clinic has weekend hours, the receptionist indicates that the doctors will not be there.
Diamant Medical Clinic (Montreal)
Full for the day, you must show up early the next morning. However, the winter clinic was not to receive patients that day, according to information from the CIUSSS.
Hochelaga Medical Center, Angus Medical Clinic, Maisonneuve-Rosemont Medical Clinic, 1851 Medical Clinic and GMF of Verdun (Montreal)
A recorded message requests to go to Bonjour-santé, but no appointment was available.
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