Surgeries: more than $450 million still available for catch-up

The government and the Federation of Specialist Physicians of Quebec (FMSQ) intend to focus, over the coming months, on the daytime reopening of operating rooms closed in recent years due to lack of staff, in order to reduce waiting lists in surgery.

Last year, for example, around 30% of the 563 operating rooms in the public network were closed, according to data from the Institute for the Relevance of Medical Acts (IPAM).

If we are able to open these rooms 100%, do we need to work evenings and weekends? I think the answer is no if we are able to maximize the rooms that are currently not used during the day and end the day at 4 p.m.underlines the director of professional affairs at the FMSQDr. Rafik Ghali.

At the office of the Minister of Health, we recall that an agreement concluded last December with the FMSQ allows more day operating rooms to be opened from January. Regarding incentives [financiers] for the evenings [après 15 h] and on weekends, exchanges continuespecifies the firm.

One thing is certain: we cannot keep adding money to get the same results.

Improved waiting list

When the FMSQ and the Minister of Health signed, in the spring of 2023, an agreement intended to reduce surgical waiting lists, the objective was to increase the number of patients waiting for more than a year to 2,500 by the end of 2024.

The agreement which expired on December 31 was accompanied by incentive remuneration for doctors to operate in the evenings, weekends and public holidays.

However, a year and a half later, the network managed to reduce this list by half, from 17,000 patients to less than 9,000 patients waiting in December 2024, according to the update published Wednesday by Santé Québec.

The total number of patients waiting for surgery has hovered around 160,000 for three years.

Other catch-up plans implemented since 2021 have encountered difficulties.

$475 million available

For two years, the Ministry of Finance and theIPAM indicate that funds are available to reduce overdue waiting lists, which have exploded during the pandemic.

This money is used to pay, for example, overtime to nurses and respiratory therapists.

So far, a little more than 10 million dollars have been spent out of the 400 million available in the public network and the 75 million in the private sector in specialized medical centers (CMS), specifies the director general of theIPAMJean-François Foisy.

To the FMSQwe intend to remain vigilant regarding the use of these funds. It is certain that it is an amount which is [prévue] for the catch-up plan, that it cannot be to finance the network while there are budgetary restrictions in healthsays Dr. Ghali.

According to our information, this fund could reduce the number of waiting patients by thousands, particularly in general surgery and orthopedic surgery.