The government is not doing enough to reduce overflows in emergencies, believes the Parti Québécois, which is calling for the establishment of a “real” crisis unit.

• Read also: Quebec sets up a crisis unit

The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, announced on Wednesday the formation of a crisis unit whose mandate will be to formulate “specific recommendations” which will allow the government to unclog emergencies in the metropolitan region.

For the moment, this unit is made up of CEOs of the CISSSs and CIUSSSs of greater Montreal and “other experts” in the field, explained the government.

In the opinion of the Parti Québécois, this announcement seems “improvised, insufficient and incomplete”, considering the seriousness of the situation.

"Emergency closures, occupancy rate of more than 150% depending on the region, heart attack treated too late, patients who wait more than 15 hours without obtaining services despite a precarious state of health: it is frankly worrying, because such a high level of traffic, everywhere in Quebec, puts the health and safety of patients at risk!” worried MP Joël Arseneau in a press release.

The PQ member also notes that the measures already provided for in Minister Dubé's health plan do not respond to the immediate emergency. “We are talking about medium and long-term measures,” he explained.

Consequently, the PQ judges that the exceptional nature of the situation requires the application of exceptional measures, taking as an example the case of the health crisis.

"What should be considered is the establishment of a national crisis committee which would bring together, not only managers from Montreal, but also, and above all, independent experts, emergency physicians, unions and personnel on in the field, in particular to find concrete and immediately applicable solutions,” declared Mr. Arseneau.

And since the crux of the problem is the lack of personnel, the PQ believes that "strong measures" of retention and attraction must be adopted as soon as possible, such as the adoption of safe caregiver/patient ratios or the abolition of compulsory overtime.

To ensure an “effective front line”, the party of Paul St-Pierre Plamondon believes that Quebecers must be given options outside of the emergency room, in particular with CHSLDs and home support.

"The current overflow experienced in emergencies shows that Minister Dubé's Front Line Access Window (GAP) is not working, because if that were the case, we would not have gotten there," concluded Joël Arseneau.