After ten days of a strike that disrupted the health system without bringing it to a standstill, the unions of liberal doctors have "suspended" their movement, after obtaining commitments from the government to withdraw contested measures and a promise to "re-establish dialogue".
"We are suspending" the strike movement, Dr. Franck Devulder, president of the CSMF union, told AFP after a meeting of the inter-union group which included the six representative unions of liberal doctors.
"But we are also saying 'never again, never again any all-out attacks against private practice medicine,'" he added. "Otherwise, the movement will start again."
Health Minister Stéphanie Rist, who faces a by-election in Loiret on Sunday, summarized on Friday in a letter to the unions and in a press release the commitments made to end the conflict.
Thus, the government is committed to removing from the current draft law against tax and social fraud the mandatory nature of the "targeting" by the Health Insurance of doctors who over-prescribe sick leave compared to their colleagues in comparable situations.
This "target-based approach" (for example, a 30% reduction in the volume of prescribed daily allowances) would remain non-mandatory, with the doctor being able to choose instead a systematic review of his prescriptions by the medical advisor of the Health Insurance.
Ms. Rist also pledged to "propose the removal of measures allowing unilateral tariff reductions" by the government at the request of the Health Insurance, another red flag for doctors.
These provisions, passed by parliamentary amendment in the 2026 Social Security budget, will be repealed by "the next legislative vehicle that allows it".
– Review imaging fees –
The minister also pledged to "relaunch discussions" with unions on imaging tariffs to reverse some planned tariff reductions, "provided that the planned level of savings is maintained" for Health Insurance (300 million euros).
Regarding the combination of employment and retirement, she promises to make it more favorable for doctors "practicing in underserved areas".
On the other hand, the elimination of reimbursement by Health Insurance for prescriptions from doctors in sector 3 (non-contracted practitioners with non-reimbursed consultations) will be maintained.
According to Mr. Devulder, the unions of liberal doctors could relaunch the strike, particularly if Parliament adopts one of the two bills aimed at regulating the establishment of doctors, the Garot bill (passed in first reading by the National Assembly) and the Mouillé bill (passed in first reading by the Senate).
The unions also remain vigilant regarding the conditions of reception and remuneration of junior doctors, these fourth-year general medicine interns called upon to reinforce general practitioners in underserved areas from November 2026.
A meeting on the subject with representatives of the interns is scheduled for Monday at the Ministry of Health, according to the unions.
The level of participation in the strike between January 5 and 15 remains difficult to measure.
Health insurance saw a decrease of just over 13% in the number of electronically transmitted healthcare claims during the strike period (excluding Saturday and Sunday and Thursday the 15th), according to data from the institution compiled by AFP.
The snow factor probably also played a role in this decline during the first week, by disrupting travel.
The strike has certainly had an impact on the emergency departments of public hospitals, whose traditional winter congestion due to epidemics has been aggravated, with patients no longer finding answers in general medicine.
The emergency physicians' union Samu Urgences de France once again sounded the alarm on Friday: "24% increase in the activity of Samu-SAS (service d'accès aux soins) which is maintained at the beginning of the year, emergency services continuously saturated (...) multiplication of white plans...", this system allowing in particular the recall of caregivers on rest, or the rescheduling of non-urgent care.
"The working conditions" in the emergency department "are unacceptable and the consequences are major: serious adverse events, deaths on stretchers, loss of opportunity for patients, physical and mental exhaustion of the teams, exodus of professionals and loss of attractiveness of an essential specialty," the union denounced.
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