At least 200 doctors and residents in Quebec are asking the provincial government to backtrack on plans to give them and other physicians substantial pay hikes.
READ MORE: Quebec doctors could soon be allowed to charge for vaccines
In an open letter with the Médecins québécois pour le régime public (MQRP), they say the increases are particularly shocking given that other health-care workers such as nurses and clerks face difficult working conditions.
The letter, which was signed by general practitioners, specialists and residents, comes at a time when many nurses are complaining about excessive workloads.
READ MORE: Quebec has more doctors than national average: Health Institute
Isabelle Leblanc, president of the group behind the letter, said nurses, orderlies and other employees in the health-care system are working under awful conditions.
“Basically, the amount of money that the Health Department has to run the system is finite,” she said in an interview Monday.
“There’s only a specific amount of money and not more, and the more you give to the physicians, the less you give to workers or to improve access (to the system).”
WATCH BELOW: A family doctor for all Quebecers?
Leblanc admitted it was a bit unusual for doctors to say they don’t want more money.
READ MORE: New deal for Quebec doctors sees them receive 14.7% salary increase over 8 years
“But I don’t think it’s that unusual for people to say ‘the workplace we work in needs more money, put it there and don’t put it in our pockets’,” she said.
“We think it’s going to help patients a lot more if the money is injected in the system, and not into the pockets of the physicians.”
The doctors also pointed out that their patients are coping with reduced services because of budget cuts in the Health Department over the last few years.
WATCH BELOW: Quebec doctor’s salary cut for taking maternity leave
Premier Philippe Couillard‘s Liberal government recently concluded a deal with the province’s 10,000 specialist doctors that would see their annual remuneration rise to $5.4 billion a year in 2023 from the current $4.7 billion.
They would also be entitled to various retroactive salary increases.
READ MORE: Quebec health minister says modifying accessory fee ban could be possible
In 2016, the average salary of a specialist doctor in Quebec was $403,000, with radiologists leading the way with close to $700,000.
READ MORE: Minister says Quebec ER doctors should work more
Last October, the government reached a deal with the province’s general practitioners to give them an increase of roughly 1.8 per cent a year over eight years.
Comments