Quebecers waiting too long for public services: ombudsperson’s report

Quebec has a problem with long wait times for public services, according to a new report by Quebec’s ombudsperson. Raymonde Saint-Germain says those wait times are getting longer.

Her report found that government budget cuts have led to fewer services and a drop in the quality of service.

READ MORE: Quebec has longest emergency room wait times in western world: report

In her last report before she steps down from her post, Saint-Germain said the public service needs to focus less on “bureaucratic attitudes” and start providing services across numerous departments faster.

Here are some examples:

• Administrative errors, particularly for pensioners, who are victims of miscalculations
• The average wait time to adapt a home for someone injured in a road accident is more than two years
• Security concerns for people living in seniors’ housing (Saint-Germain documents incidents of people attacked by other residents)
• Too many Quebecers without family physicians.

Saint-Germain called the process to access services for people with disabilities an “obstacle course.” She gave this example of a child with autism:

“He was on a waiting list. He was supposed to have physical therapy services in two years and when her mother came with him two years after, these services were no longer available for him and he had to wait for three more years,” Saint-Germain said.

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The number of services required by Quebec’s citizens went up by 2.5 per cent last year, according to the report. Meanwhile, the number of complaints increased by over 12 per cent.