Quebec reaches agreement for better access to medical specialists

Health Minister Christian Dubé and the Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec (FMSQ) have reached an agreement to guarantee better access to consultations with medical specialists.

Dubé and the FMSQ announced the agreement on Thursday morning, describing it as “a step in the right direction”.

Under the agreement, specialist physicians will be able to practice outside their hospital establishments to meet local, regional and provincial needs.

“Access to consultations in specialized medicine will thus be facilitated by avoiding wall-to-wall solutions,” explains the press release.

The Ministry and the FMSQ will specify the specific terms and conditions for each specialty.

This process will begin in December and should run until November 2024 at the latest, according to the Ministry.

An agreement on these procedures, known as “activités médicales particulières (AMP)”, already applies to family doctors, but this is a first for specialist doctors, it says.

“The big winners in this agreement are Quebecers,” Dubé said in the release.

“The conclusion of this agreement in principle demonstrates the essential nature of negotiations,” added FMSQ President Vincent Oliva. This agreement must lay the foundations for a new way of working between specialist physicians and the (ministry) in the interests of patients.”