Quebec’s drift toward private health care services concerns nurses union

The union is calling for more funding for at-home care, elderly care and legislated norms for nurse-patient ratios.

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Opening the door wider to the private sector in health care, as the Legault government seems poised to do, is “extremely worrisome” and will further weaken the public network, a Quebec health-care professionals union warned on Tuesday.

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Representatives of the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé (FIQ) and its private sector affiliate FIQP made the observation as they met the news media Tuesday in anticipation of next week’s provincial budget.

“The first goal of the government is to reduce waiting lists that have been very very long since the start of the pandemic,” said FIQ president Julie Bouchard. “Now, even if we want to reduce those lists we are lacking health professionals. They are lacking throughout the health network. … Is the private sector the solution? The answer is no, because we are dividing, once again, the public system. … It’s extremely worrisome.”

The union is calling for more funding for at-home care, elderly care and legislated norms for nurse-patient ratios. It also wants improvements in working conditions for health professionals in the public sector, most notably an end to mandatory overtime.

The union notes that recent comments by Quebec Health Minster Christian Dubé suggest it is becoming increasingly clear the provincial government intends to give more room to the private sector in the provision of health care.