Digital health record: PLQ wants to put in place three “winning conditions”

The opposition is calling for a halt to the implementation of the Digital Health Record (DSN), the controversial digital shift in the health network.

Two Integrated University Health and Social Services Centres (CIUSSS) are to implement a pilot project starting May 9, in Mauricie and in the north of the Island of Montreal, but health professionals have raised the alarm.

The Quebec Health Agency has tried to reassure the public about the progress of the DSN, however the Parti Québécois (PQ) is demanding a pause and that Quebec Health be summoned to a parliamentary committee. 

“All professionals, whether doctors, respiratory therapists, or different groups, tell us: ‘in my field, I see this as a great risk to the continuity of care and to people’s health,'” said PQ MNA Joël Arseneau, in a press scrum at the parliament on Wednesday.

“We say we cannot take that risk,” he added. 

According to him, we need to take a break and ask Quebec Health “where they are at, what the state of the situation is, that they respond to people’s concerns and that they tell us what the contingency plan is so that we know where we are going.”

For its part, the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) wants to put in place three “winning conditions”, to use the words of Liberal MNA Monsef Derraji. 

The latter is demanding that the company responsible for the system deploy more staff to assist users. The PLQ also wants additional resources in help desks to handle IT problems.

Finally, the Liberals are calling for a “precise and clear” plan for the resumption of surgeries that may be cancelled or delayed due to the deployment of the DSN. 

“This stems from discussions I had with the healthcare staff,” Derraji explained.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews