More than 900,000 Quebecers on wait lists for consultations with medical specialists
Nearly two out of three Quebecers in need of a consultation with a medical specialist are waiting past medically acceptable delays — up from 41 per cent at the end of 2023, Health Ministry statistics reveal.
In total, nearly 910,000 Quebecers were waiting for a consultation with a specialist as of May 31, the latest date for which such figures are available. That compares with almost 832,000 people who were waiting for a consultation on Dec. 31, 2023. The figures are the latest indication of persistent access problems in the health network more than half a year into the mandate of Santé Québec, the Crown corporation that was set up to run the public system more efficiently.
'It's going form bad to worse,' veteran patient-rights advocate Paul Brunet, executive director of the Conseil pour la protection des malades, told The Gazette.
'It means that some of these patients are likely to end up in the emergency room when their health situation become more aggravated. For some, that's the only way they will be operated on or taken care of by specialists. Meanwhile, the crisis in emergency rooms is still going on.
'The state of health care is degrading,' Brunet added.
Health Minister Christian Dubé has focused much of his attention on improving access to family physicians. On that score, there has been some progress, although there are still almost 644,000 Quebecers waiting for a consultation in primary care using the online portal known as the Guichet d'accès à la première ligne (for those who don't have a family doctor) — up from more than 619,000 at the end of 2024. Yet the latest numbers suggest that access to medical specialists may pose an even worse problem.
What's more, the Gazette reported last month that some heart patients who have been examined by a specialist are dying on wait lists as Santé Québec and the health ministry squabble over jurisdiction and resources. A record three dozen cardiac patients have died from sudden death while waiting for a life-saving operation since the start of the year.
The lengthening of wait times to see a medical specialist is coinciding with an exodus of some specialists from the public system to the private-for-profit sector. For example, more than 108,000 Quebecers were waiting for a consultation with a dermatologist as of May 31.
Meanwhile, since last July the number of dermatologists who have opted completely out of the public system has climbed to 49 from 41 . The private-sector dermatologists now represent about one quarter of such specialists practicing in the province. They are charging patients out of pocket an average of $250 per consultation.
Another striking example concerns orthopedics, with nearly 60,000 Quebecers waiting (often in pain) for a consultation with a specialist. At present, there are 38 orthopedic surgeons who have opted out of medicare, with about 340 remaining in the public system.
Quebec has since adopted legislation to prevent orthopedic surgeons from opting in and out of medicare regularly. But the new regulations are unlikely to have an impact on those who have quit the public system permanently.
Audrey Noiseux, Dubé's press attaché, referred The Gazette's queries to Santé Québec. Marianne Paquette, a spokesperson for Santé Québec, said that improving access to specialists remains a priority for the Crown corporation that was established on Dec. 1 last year.
'Although the issues surrounding access to specialists are complex, concrete (solutions) are being actively implemented,' Paquette said in an email. 'These efforts are based on reinforced clinical coordination, process optimization and concerted mobilization of all network players. The common objective remains to improve access to specialized services, with a view to ensuring equity, efficiency and responsiveness to patients' needs, throughout Quebec.'
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