Quebec doctors call for their own salaries to be cut to save health service

DOCTORS in Canada have called for a cut in their own wages to help mitigate a squeeze on public health service budgets.

More than 750 physicians, residents and medical students in Quebec signed an online letter opposing a recent salary hike negotiated by their unions. “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,” reads the letter. “The only thing that seems to be immune to the cuts is our remuneration.”

Last October, the association representing Quebec’s 9,500 family doctors signed an eight-year deal with the province that would see doctors’ salaries rise by an average of 1.8 per cent annually. The pay rise would add Can$4,400 (£2,500) annually to a GP’S average salary of Can$245,000 (£137,000). But it would still be 15 to 20 per cent lower than what doctors are paid in Ontario, Canada’s most populous province.

Last month, another deal was reached between the Quebec government and the province’s 10,000 medical specialists, which would see their annual salaries increase by 1.4 per cent annually. On average, Quebec specialists earn an average salary of Can$403,537 (£225,000).

Gaétan Barrette, the Quebec health minister, said last month that if doctors “feel they are overpaid, they can leave the money on the table. I guarantee you I can make good use of it”.