The cuts initiated in the health network by the new Santé Québec agency continue to be felt on the ground, while the Integrated Health and Social Services Center (CISSS) of Lanaudière has requested that its employees work less during the week .
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This measure, which was announced despite the already heavy workload of staff, must be applied on a voluntary basis. A survey on the sound management of finances and human resources is also being conducted among nurses, practical nurses and beneficiary attendants of the CISSS to see if they are open to reducing their working hours during the week.
However, this directive is causing concern among the unions about its impact on the workload of existing staff. Simon Deschênes, the president of the CISSS de Lanaudière workers’ union, does not hesitate to talk about austerity.
“It’s dramatic. It’s a shame that the first maneuver by Santé Québec, which is supposedly there to save our network, is austerity. They don’t want to say it, but that’s what we’re experiencing. It’s austerity, a return to austerity, like with the liberals,” he pleads.
For example, the emergency room at Pierre —Le Gardeur hospital in Terrebonne had an occupancy rate of 181% on Friday morning.
Reorganization of schedules
For its part, Santé Québec is focusing on reorganizing work schedules to ensure it has staff on weekends.
-“It’s budgetary rigor, obviously, but [il faut] really ensure that all services are fully available to the population and that we also create as few waiting times as possible,” assured Frédéric Abergel, executive vice-president of operations and transformation at Santé Québec, during a press briefing held on Friday.
The new agency points out, however, that wait times on stretchers in the province’s emergency rooms have decreased in the province compared to last year.
We still invite patients to contact their pharmacist, depending on the severity of their symptoms.
Remember that Santé Québec has the mandate to cut $1.5 billion in the health network by March 2025.
With information from Étienne Malouin
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