Well, this is refreshing: Nearly 700 doctors, residents and med students in Quebec, Canada, are protesting a planned 1.4 percent increase in their compensation, requesting that the provincial health ministry instead redistribute those funds to nurses, support staff, and patients.
The group say they are offended that they would receive raises when nurses and patients are struggling.
"These increases are all the more shocking because our nurses, clerks and other professionals face very difficult working conditions, while our patients live with the lack of access to required services because of the drastic cuts in recent years and the centralization of power in the Ministry of Health," reads the letter, which was published February 25.
The struggles of nurses and other non-doctor support staff have made headlines in recent weeks, shedding light on the realities of these workers’ day to day experiences. In addition to stagnant wages, hospitals are understaffed and forced to work mandatory overtime. The Montreal Gazette reports:
(N)urses have been sounding the alarm about the strain on their own health as a result of cost-saving measures and bureaucratic reforms. From mandatory overtime to what they say are unmanageable patient ratios, the pillars of Quebec’s public health system say they are now crumbling under the weight of the extraordinary demands being placed on them.
In a Facebook rant accompanied by a tearful selfie, nurse and Québécoise Émelie Ricard railed hard against Health Minster Gaetan Barette’s January assertion that recent healthcare reforms were “a success.” The post, which was written in French and translated, outlines appalling conditions for staff and patients alike: in the shift she detailed, Ricard says that she alone was responsible for over 70 patients, and unable to help an orderly with their duties, leaving many patients in soiled diapers and otherwise neglected.
I wouldn’t want to see one of my own family members left in conditions like that. It’s disgusting. I am broken by my profession; I am ashamed of the pitiful care I am providing despite my best efforts. My health system is broken and dying.
I have so much stress that I'm sore all over my back, enough to keep me from sleeping, I don't want to go to work because I'm dreading the burden that's waiting for me.
...I don't know what to do but be a nurse, it's my calling and I think I'm good at what I do…
I don't think I'm the only one who's been demolished by the reality of nursing care...
The response after Ricard’s post went viral was “overwhelming.” Nursing unions joined the charge, and created broken heart pins for people to wear in solidarity. Sit-ins and protests popped up in cities across Quebec. But not everyone was supportive, of course.
Quebec’s combative health minister deflected the blame back on nurses. Barrette says nurses unwilling to fill vacant full-time positions for fear of being forced to work overtime are creating a vicious circle where other nurses are forced to work mandatory overtime. Negotiations have begun with the government to find some sort of solution.
As such, the protesting doctors were appalled when $700 million was found for their raises.
A physician in Canada is paid $260,924 ($339,000 Canadian) for clinical services by the government's Ministry of Health per year on average, according to a report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information published in September 2017.
While this salary information does not account for a doctor’s overhead or taxes, most doctors still are making good money, especially when you consider that the costs of attending medical school are just a fraction of the debt doctors trained in the United States spend.
This recent letter isn’t the first action taken by the group of doctors, known as the MQRP. Another petition denounced work conditions for nurses, and yet another denounced raises for specialists as “indecent.”
Decency. What a surprising outlook in today’s selfish times.
Unfortunately, the MQRP protestors comprise less than 10 percent of Quebec’s doctors. Unless more doctors sign on against the compensation increases, the nurses may be out of luck.