CHUS Users’ Committee continues to field fewer calls this year

With many restrictions placed in hospitals across Quebec this year due to the pandemic, the CHUS Users’ Committee at Fleurimont (CHUS) and l’hôtel Dieu has received a lot fewer calls than normal.

“We’ve had less this year and I think partly that’s due to less people going to the hospital for emergencies, less people being able to be with their family members when they’re hospitalized,” said CHUS Users’ Committee President Josée Rourke.

However, the committee, which aims to defend people’s rights to hospital services, wants to remind people that they are still active and eager to help. It has been a full year since a meeting has been held in the hospital, Rourke said, making it difficult to get their message out.

“We do keep in touch, we do try to stay involved, we continue to get clients who call us for issues that come up,” she said.

According to Rourke, there have not been any major issues up to this point. There was a meeting involving the people responsible for blood clinics recently because residents were having difficulty making appointments, she said, but that has since been cleared up.

The wait time for blood clinics is now two days, Rourke explained, but it was much longer for a while. The other concern they had was with high-risk patients, like cancer patients, not receiving their vaccine. But that has also been addressed, she noted.

“I think we would have perhaps liked to have seen that happen sooner, but that was a provincial decision, not a local one,” said Rourke.

When asked about other patients, such as the many thousands of people waiting for surgery, the committee president acknowledged there is a serious backlog. However, it’s a product of the pandemic, since many operating rooms were earlier this year.

At this point there are about 80 per cent of operating rooms open and, according to Rourke, the hospitals are trying to make their way through the list while respecting COVID-19 health and safety measures. No one has reached out about any major delays in a long time, she added.

The pandemic has exposed many flaws in Quebec’s health system this year, but what Rourke has noticed is that there is a disconnect between the various levels of service. And it was exposed when front line workers tackled the pandemic head on.

“The fluidity between the various levels of service I think it became accentuated during the pandemic just because of the fact that there was so much need, so much need everywhere,” said Rourke.

There should be a point of entry for all services, she continued, including for Quebecers dealing with mental shut down health issues. The problem, though, is even if there is someone available at a CSLC, when a patient leaves the clinic or hospital, the services begin to differ from region to region.

What happens when you need to wait for another service, Rourke asked, or a person is put on a waiting list after being referred to a specialist. However, this won’t be fixed until the province deals with the worker shortage. Until then, waiting lists will continue to pile up.

“I know the efforts are being made, but the biggest difficulty is getting the right person into the right position, you know, there’s such a shortage, whether it’s nurses, youth protection workers, or doctors,” said Rourke.

The CHUS Users’ Committee can reached by email at comitedesusagers. chus@ssss.gouv.qc.ca or by phone at (819) 829-3288. Rourke encourages people to contact the committee if they have any questions or concerns regarding their hospital visit.