Agreement on the GAP | The FMOQ agrees with Quebec on the access window

The Quebec government and the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec (FMOQ) have reached an agreement on the front-line access window (GAP).

This was confirmed by the office of Minister of Health Christian Dubé and the FMOQ at The Press late Thursday afternoon. Details of the agreement are not yet known.

“The progress we have made with the bridge agreement for the GAP will make it possible to maintain certain important principles, such as collective registration, while facilitating better access,” said the office of the Minister of Health in a written statement. .

Patients registered with a group of family doctors can therefore “be reassured,” according to the President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel. This bridging agreement “will make it possible to maintain care for more than 900,000 patients and ensure that they are seen.” “The work is not finished,” she said in a written statement. Now, we will devote our energy to negotiating the renewal of the framework agreement. »

And the $120 bonus?

The agreement between Quebec and the FMOQ on the GAP ended on 1^er June. Since this date, family doctors are no longer entitled to a bonus of $120 when they see an orphan or a patient in collective care during a consultation.

Will doctors keep this bonus? We still don’t know. But during a press briefing this afternoon, the president of the FMOQ, D^r Marc-André Amyot, indicated that a reduction in the amount of $120 was “part of the ongoing discussions”. He recalled that family doctors used this bonus to “hire staff, rent premises to be able to accommodate more patients” in their clinic.

Earlier this morning, Health Minister Christian Dubé indicated that he expected a “response today” from family doctors. “It can go one way or the other,” he said during a press scrum at the Palais des congrès de Montréal, where he was giving a speech to the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal in the afternoon. .

Patients who pay the price

Patients are suffering from the end of this agreement. According to groups of emergency doctors, more Quebecers without a family doctor are going to the emergency rooms of certain hospitals because they cannot obtain a medical appointment at the GAP.

Since 1^er June, the number of medical appointments offered through GAP dropped drastically. According to the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS), 5,841 medical consultations were available at GAP as of June 6 for the week of the 15th. Quebec usually has between 18,000 and 23,000 per week.

“At the moment, the emergency is unfortunately the alternative that many people are taking,” Christian Dubé admitted in a press scrum on Thursday. But when we call the GAP, people can be referred to a pharmacist – you have seen how we have extended services – they can go to a CLSC where a specialized nurse practitioner can also take care of them. »

Christian Dubé underlines that doctors have continued to offer availability to GAP since the end of the agreement. Appointments are also available at medical clinics. In total, around 300,000 medical consultations are given each week by family doctors in Quebec, he said.

In its written statement, Minister Dubé’s office thanks the family doctors who continued to see GAP patients during the negotiations.