François Bayrou expressed his support on Tuesday for "regulating" the practice of doctors to combat medical deserts, following the rejection by a parliamentary committee last week of a provision to this effect.
"We must (...) break out of the quagmire and the impasse. Regulation is probably necessary, as many health professions have decided, aware of the difficulty," the Prime Minister told the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE), citing the case of dental surgeons "who have decided to take this imperative into their own hands."
He indicated that the government was "attentive to the initiatives of parliamentarians," alluding without naming it to the cross-party bill put forward by the socialist Guillaume Garot, which aims to regulate the establishment of doctors in towns and cities, by seeking the approval of the Regional Health Agency (ARS).
The key measure in this bill was rejected in committee, but its initiators hope to reintroduce it in the House. The bill, which was scheduled for debate on Tuesday and Wednesday, could suffer from a congested schedule. However, the Conference of Presidents decided on Tuesday to continue its examination, if necessary, during the week of May 5.
The government "is keen to build a solution that includes all stakeholders, and therefore a plan of concrete solutions, which will take into account parliamentary debates, their successes and their difficulties, must be presented before the end of this month," promised François Bayrou.
"The first step of this plan must be the precise and complete identification of the areas in need, a mapping of the duties of care (...) for our compatriots reduced to abandonment in this area," he explained.
In this regard, the Prime Minister said that he would "invite all stakeholders, starting next week, along with the relevant ministers, so that we can examine practical, rapid, and concrete solutions together." "I will do everything to ensure that these solutions are adopted. If they are not, the government will intervene," he added.
He also defended his education projects before the Cese, stressing the need to simplify administrative procedures and reduce the country's "over-indebtedness" - reiterating the objective of a deficit of 3% of GDP in 2029, compared to 5.8% in 2024 -, all of which are projects he wants to tackle in the coming weeks, eager to respond to the inaction lawsuit filed by his detractors.
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