Quebec Health Minister tables 150 new amendments to his healthcare reform, Bill 15

Already in a race against time to pass the healthcare reform Bill 15, Minister Christian Dubé tabled some 150 amendments on Tuesday morning.

On Monday, when the Commission de la santé et des services sociaux resumed its work in Quebec City, the Minister threatened to gag the bill.

Invited by the oppositions to commit to not resorting to this option, Dubé refused to do so, stating that discussions would have to stop at some point in order to implement the changes on the ground.

New amendments

The new package of amendments submitted to elected representatives responds to a number of concerns raised during specific consultations.

In particular, the Minister responded to criticisms voiced by user representatives. The future national users’ committee will no longer be formed by Santé Québec, but will instead be made up of members elected by users.

This committee will have a mandate to make representations to Santé Québec’s senior management.

Another accountability concern was raised by the Auditor General of Quebec (AGQ). She wanted to have the sole mandate of auditing Santé Québec’s books, and this was granted. The VGQ will also be able to scrutinize the books of all private healthcare service providers if the majority of their revenues come from public funds.

Under the same theme of checks and balances, complaints commissioners in healthcare establishments will be required by law to have “the resources necessary to fulfill their mandate”.

Exceptional drugs

Looking at the package of amendments, the Minister has also heeded the call of the Conseils des médecins, dentistes et pharmaciens (CMDP) on the subject of exception drugs.

In the first version of PL-15, it was no longer possible for physicians to obtain special authorization from their hospital’s pharmacology committee to administer a drug that had not been recognized by the Institut national d’excellence en santé et en services sociaux, even if scientific knowledge had evolved and its therapeutic value had been demonstrated.

An amendment has been tabled to “introduce an exception” allowing the use of a drug “for reasons of particular medical necessity”. Authorization could be granted “if the seriousness of the user’s particular condition is such that taking the drug cannot be delayed without causing, in the short term, complications that could lead to an irreversible deterioration in his condition or to his death”.

Time trial

The Minister is keen to ensure that his reform of the healthcare network, which will notably give rise to a new Crown corporation, the Santé Québec agency, is adopted before the end of the parliamentary session in December.

In its current form, the future “Act to make the health and social services system more efficient” contains nearly 1,200 articles to be analyzed and debated by parliamentarians.

Detailed study of Bill 15 is scheduled to continue until Thursday.

The Canadian Press health content is funded through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. The Canadian Press is solely responsible for editorial choices.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on August 22, 2023, and translated by CityNews.