The government plans to impose up to two days of consultation time per month for doctors in priority areas of the country, a key measure in a plan to combat medical deserts, a government source announced on Friday.
This "principle of solidarity" of the medical profession is presented by the executive as an alternative to the "end of freedom of establishment" of doctors, a measure induced in a cross-party bill whose flagship article was adopted against the advice of the government at the beginning of April by the National Assembly, before the examination of the rest of the text planned for the beginning of May.
This measure is included in a "pact to combat medical deserts" presented Friday by François Bayrou during a trip to Cantal. By 2024, 6 million French people will not have a primary care physician.
The fight against medical deserts is one of the Prime Minister's four priorities, set out in a letter sent to parliamentary group leaders in March.
François Bayrou intends to send "a message of confidence to all healthcare workers." "The idea is not to favor solutions that impose restrictions on installation," the same government source explained.
This measure will affect "all doctors." "There will be financial compensation." "Conversely, doctors who refuse will be penalized," the same source added.
In addition to this measure, the plan presented Friday includes three other "axes." The first deals with training. The idea is to "allow as many young people as possible to access health studies, as close as possible to their local area," and to "recruit in rural or less-privileged areas," a government source explained. A new doctor is more likely to settle in his or her home area: 50% of trained general practitioners practice within 85 km of their place of birth, and one in two establishments is located within 43 km of the university where they are a resident.
The government intends to massively expand internships in "underpopulated areas" for medical students. Each department—three-quarters of which are currently in this category—will have to have a first-year health student.
The government also wants to delegate new procedures to other healthcare professionals. A patient suffering from seasonal allergic rhinitis could, for example, go to a pharmacy to receive treatment with an expired prescription.
Furthermore, the executive wants to map out the most priority areas, known as "red zones," within one month. This work will be entrusted to the regional health agencies (ARS), "in close collaboration with prefects and local elected officials," in order to "define the highest priority areas, department by department," for the implementation of this plan.
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