Following François Bayrou's announcements about medical deserts, the temperature in the health sector has risen once again: doctors are mobilizing, with strikes starting on April 28 and demonstrations on April 29, against a proposed law regulating the establishment of their profession.
The discontent stems from a cross-party bill, initiated by Guillaume Garot (PS), whose flagship article was adopted at the beginning of April by the National Assembly, with the rest of the text scheduled for examination at the beginning of May. The text, which advocates regulating facilities in favor of medical deserts, has provoked the anger of private doctors, medical students, interns and young doctors, for whom the project " will undermine the attractiveness of private medicine, today the first bulwark of the health system“.
Lucas Poittevin, president of the National Association of Medical Students of France (Anemf), launched an appeal on April 16 to " an unlimited national inter-union strike starting April 28"The government, hostile to the Garot project, lit a counter-fire on Friday, by presenting it as an alternative to the " end of freedom of installation » a plan to combat medical deserts.
But the flagship measure put forward by Prime Minister François Bayrou, imposing up to two days per month of consultation time for doctors in priority areas of the country, has also angered some practitioners. We are currently determining the modalities and this is why, by the end of May (…) the mapping » allowing this measure to be deployed, as well as its « financial conditions " in particular, will be fixed, declared the Minister of Health, Catherine Vautrin, on TF1 on Monday morning. " The goal is for us to be fully operational by the beginning of September at the latest." she said.
"It will strengthen the strike."
For Sophie Bauer, president of the Union of Liberal Doctors (SML), " if it is an individual obligation (…) it will strengthen the strike" . " Politicians don't hear", Philippe Cuq, co-president of the Union Avenir Spé Le Bloc (union of medical and medico-surgical specialties), laments to AFP, upset by the Garot project and the Bayrou plan. Last week, I held several meetings to explain to them. We were received at the office. (from the Minister of Health, Editor’s note). And they can't write it correctly. (in the Bayrou plan, editor’s note),” he says, tired of it.
For MP Garot, the principle of consultation brought forward two days per month will not respond " the scale of the problem: the least well-endowed areas are rarely in geographical proximity to the best-endowed areas" . " Although the government's announcement plan has included a number of actions to try to combat medical deserts, we can say that if Parliament decides to vote on this Garot bill, the regulation will still apply.", Lucas Poittevin summarizes for AFP.
Young doctors, of whom he is one of the voices, are calling for a hard strike starting Monday, with the closure of practices. Most of the established liberal unions are not on this line, except for the Federation of French Physicians (FMF). My office is closed Monday, Tuesday, whether it's me, my replacement, my interns", its president Patricia Lefébure told AFP.
“Getting policies moving”
The Union of General Practitioners (MG France, the majority among liberals) recommends simply going to " demonstrate with young doctors, because they are the ones targeted by the Garot project“, as its president Agnès Giannotti told AFP.
“ We gave instructions on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to stop activities. As much as possible. Because we still have major constraints with scheduled surgeries.", notes Philippe Cuq. " I believe that to get politicians moving, we need to create a risk. A health risk. That's the only way to get politicians to listen." he says.
“ Closing for ten days until the text is reviewed is out of the question, I have patients to take care of.", explains to AFP Franck Devulder, president of the Confederation of French Medical Unions (CSMF), for whom it is on the other hand " an obvious fact " to support the " younger » and the interns.
Like many established liberals, he calls " to the strike of the on-call care and access to care service until the withdrawal of this proposal"That is to say, a strike of the shared duty staff at night, on weekends and public holidays.
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