News

Longueuil – The APTS (Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux) attended a parliamentary committee today to express its concerns and make recommendations about Bill 83. While the APTS acknowledges the government’s intent to reinforce access to care and services and to curb the erosion of the public system, it believes that the bill misses the mark and may have only a limited impact on the genuine problems in Québec’s health and social services system.

“This bill starts from a commendable principle, but the proposed measures won’t achieve the health minister’s goal,” said APTS president Robert Comeau. “It doesn’t get at the root causes of the exodus and might even justify doctors leaving for the private sector. What we need is to improve working conditions and make massive investments in public system infrastructure rather than imposing temporary constraints on new doctors.”

The union points out that doctors don’t leave the public system at the beginning of their careers, but after several years of experience. Forcing new doctors to work in the public system for the first five years won’t change that. This is why the APTS is proposing concrete measures to retain doctors in the public system, such as reviewing how they are compensated, limiting the permeability between the public and private systems for certain specialities and better controlling billing to the RAMQ.

“To ensure equitable, universal access to health care, we need to offer a workplace that is attractive to doctors and to all health and social services professionals and technicians,” said APTS vice-president Émilie Charbonneau. “We shouldn’t impose restrictions on them but instead create the conditions that make them want to stay.”

The APTS’s brief (in French) contains seven key recommendations for improving the public system. At the same time, the union calls on the government to review its approach and adopt a more effective strategy.

“Québec can’t settle for half measures,” said Robert Comeau. “We need to protect the public system. We call on the government to go further and adopt an effective strategy to consolidate the public health and social services system.”

The APTS

The APTS (Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux) represents more than 65,000 members who play a key role in ensuring that health and social services institutions run smoothly. Our members provide a wide range of services for all Quebecers, including diagnostic, rehabilitation, nutrition, psychosocial intervention, clinical support, and prevention services.