We should not be surprised that the CAQ’s Minister of Health took up the idea of the Liberal government, which, in 2006, authorized the use of private clinics, paid for by the State, for various interventions including the waiting dragged on: the knee, the cataract and the hip.
Recourse to the private sector, paid for by the State, can certainly help reduce the wait for more than 150,000 patients who have been suffering unduly for several months, even years.
However, this recourse to the private sector must be supervised. It should only be used for procedures whose waiting times exceed good practice. It must be authorized for a certain time, that is to say the time to regain control of the waiting lists. The minister must also control the number of doctors who would like to withdraw to go private during this time. Hospital standards and the complaints regime should apply to these clinics.
The use of the private sector is not new. But the help it can provide for a certain time should not make us lose sight of the very important principles of universal and free access to the public network, promised by our charters and our laws.
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