News

Longueuil – As the tenth anniversary of the OPTILAB roll-out approaches, the APTS (Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux) is publishing a report taking stock of what’s happening in Québec’s medical laboratories (Bilan de santé des laboratoires : OPTILAB, une réforme qui ne passe pas le test). The findings of the report are unequivocal: not only has OPTILAB failed to deliver on its promises, but it has also increased the fragility of a key element of our public health system.

Medical labs support close to 85% of diagnoses. OPTILAB was intended to make the labs more efficient; instead, it led to poorly planned centralization, a more severe labour shortage, and more service breaks.

“Medical labs are a pillar of our public health system,” said APTS president Robert Comeau. “Transformations carried out over the past few years have had repercussions far beyond the lab facilities themselves. At the APTS, we believe that when evaluating a reform of this kind, we need to consider the full range of impacts, including both structural and human aspects. The report we’re presenting today is an attempt to take a clear-sighted look at the situation and contribute to thinking about the future. If our labs aren’t in good health, our whole system is sick.”

Major impacts on services and employees

The APTS report shows that conditions in medical labs have gotten significantly worse.

·        Staffing has gone down 7% over the past five years, while the volume of analyses has risen by 15.1%.

·        Reliance on overtime has exploded since 2015.

·        The labour shortage persists and is aggravated by a drop in the number of people graduating and a low retention rate.

·        Infrastructure has deteriorated, with 44% of equipment considered to be in poor condition.

·        Major problems affecting service continuity have been caused by the roll-out of the SIL-P system.

Management is also more and more centralized and disconnected from regional realities, making operations more complicated and undermining conditions of practice. 

“With this report, we want to show the underside of a reform that hasn’t been carried through to the end,” said Carl Verreault, APTS vice-president and political officer for laboratories. “What we’re seeing is management by remote control, an unprecedented labour shortage, decrepit equipment and an increasing number of service breaks. Today, we’re dealing with the worst of two worlds: the system is ultracentralized, incomplete, and inefficient. As a lab technician, I can tell you that we’re in survival mode.”

Looking for solutions

The APTS is presenting this report to initiate a constructive dialogue with the government and help make Quebecers more aware of the worrisome state of public medical labs. The union believes that we need to act quickly to reverse current trends by restoring viable conditions of practice, modernizing infrastructure and equipment, and taking concrete steps to attract and retain employees. Without immediate action to deliver structural change, the public system’s ability to provide accessible, high-quality services will continue to deteriorate, and service users will pay the price.

“We have a clear diagnosis. Our labs are no longer in good health – and we need to get them back on their feet,” concluded Robert Comeau.

See the full report: Bilan de santé des laboratoires

See the highlights of the report (in English)

The APTS

The APTS (Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux) represents more than 68,000 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.