Doctors and Nurses Leave Public System for Private Sector

Many doctors and nurses in Montreal have left the public healthcare system due to being overworked during the pandemic or wanting to be compensated with more money for their work.

How can we boost the amount of healthcare workers in our public system? Dr. Paul Saba, Montreal family doctor & president of the Council of Physicians spoke to CUTV reporter Savanna Craig about ways to incentivize doctors in the public system to take on more patients, and more.

He says that there are many ways to incentivize healthcare workers – tax credits can be provided if physicians take on extra patients, for example. He said solo practitioners account for around 50% of doctors in Quebec and they should be brought into take on more patients to help the healthcare system.

In a document leaked to the CBC, a ninety-page plan by the provincial government intending to revamp the healthcare system by 2025. The plan states that mandatory overtime for nurses would be eliminated and doctors would be paid on a per-patient basis. 

The document also states overtime filled by staff will no longer be tolerated, but instead overtime would be instead handled by overstaffing the healthcare system, including hiring one thousand nurses from abroad.

The government will address reliance on private agencies to use temporary nurses and nurses aids in both long-term care homes and hospitals – which result in a much larger cost than public nurses.

While some of these ideas are a step in the right direction, some healthcare workers say the Quebec government is notlistening to their recommendations to both aid the system in the short and long term. 

Dr. Saba said that the government should reach out to doctors to hear their input on ways to help the healthcare system  – but says the government isn't already doing this. He says doctors and other healthcare workers can look at the bigger picture, share ideas, provide input and write into the government to provide suggested solutions.

"There should be transparency with these ideas, it shouldn't be kept secret," said Dr. Saba, meaning these ideas shared by healthcare workers should be publicized.

"[These ideas] should be broadcasted," said Dr. Saba.