Nearly 1,600 incidents and verbal or physical violence against doctors were recorded in 2023 in France according to figures published Tuesday by the Observatory of the Order of Physicians, an "alarming" increase of 27% in one year.
"It is clear that this is only the tip of the iceberg since the vast majority of doctors do not report incidents," said Dr. Jean-Jacques Avrane, coordinator of the Security Observatory at the Council of the Order.
General practitioners are "on the front line", representing 64% of the reported incidents while they represent 43% of the medical population. Among the other professionals affected, all specialties are concerned, in particular psychiatrists (3%) and ophthalmologists (2%).
More than half of these 1,581 reported cases concern attacks by the patient (62%), more rarely it concerns an accompanying person (16%), according to this observatory.
More than a third of these incidents are linked to a "complaint relating to care" (38%). This is followed by a "refusal to prescribe" (19%), a "falsification of a document" (prescription, certificate, 12%) and a "waiting time deemed excessive" (10%).
The vast majority of incidents are verbal assaults and threats (73%), more rarely thefts or attempted thefts (8%), physical assaults (8%) or vandalism (7%). Of all the cases reported, 6% resulted in work interruption.
Nearly 54% of incidents take place in urban areas and city centers, while a quarter (24%) take place in rural areas where the share of incidents is increasing year on year (21% in 2022).
"If we find a doctor in a rural area, he is overwhelmed and more difficult to reach, and it is more difficult to make appointments," notes Dr. Avrane to explain this increase.
The National Council of the Order of Physicians has set up a security referent in each department, as well as a mutual aid service for the ordinal to support and assist doctors who have been attacked in their dealings with the authorities. Experimental devices are also being studied, such as "push buttons" to raise the alarm.
The Council also recalls that "it is very important that doctors file complaints", in response to the low rate of incidents that give rise to a complaint (31% of cases).
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