900,000 Quebecers are waiting to see specialist, record number

The number of Quebecers waiting to see a specialist has skyrocketed in the past five years, reaching a new record high increasing from 500,000 to more than 900,000.

The specialties where people are waiting the most are otolaryngology, also known as ENTs (ear, nose, and throat) and dermatology, with more than 100,000 waiting for a consultation in the province.

“We’re going to lose some of the patients who are in need to see a specialist and eventually be referred to an operation or a treatment of some sort,” said Paul Brunet, chair council for the protection of patients.

According to La Presse, part of the issue is due to the excessive number of consultations referred by general practitioners. Over the past five years, the wait can be seen steadily increasing.

“Some of those patients who are in need to see a specialist will probably end up in emergency wards,” said Brunet. “Do we have a crisis emergency? Oh, yes, we do have.”

“I am in need of a procedure, and the problem is that the specialist cannot get time in the hospital to do this,” said Irving Perlman, Montrealer. “The procedure that I’m waiting for that could possibly make my life much more comfortable and much easier, who knows.”

Data from the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) shows that May of this year had 909,019 Quebecers waiting to see a specialist. This compared to 500,637 from Jan. 4, 2020.

In a statement sent to CityNews, the Quebec Health Ministry said:

“A multifaceted issue, at the crossroads of organizational, clinical, and demographic challenges. Among the contributing factors are a high volume of requests in certain specialties, limited availability of professionals, and the growing complexity of some treatment pathways. […] To address these challenges, the health network relies on the Service Request Dispatch Centres (CRDS), which coordinate access to initial specialist consultations. These centres receive, prioritize, and distribute requests submitted by family doctors or frontline specialized nurse practitioners, based on standardized clinical criteria.”

“I would want Santé Québec and all the other authorities to talk to one another, different jurisdictions, Ontario, the states, Quebec, other CIUSS because they don’t talk to one another very much contrary to what some people might think,” said Brunet.

The number of patients waiting too long for an appointment is also rising. This spring, over 580,000 people were waiting to see a specialist, making up 64 per cent of all consultation requests — well above the provincial target of 35 per cent set for March 2025, according to Quebec Health Ministry data.

“I feel left down by the province of Quebec and of Canada,” said Perlman.