“I can’t always get the prescriptions to renew my treatment, so I buy it myself on the Internet” : like almost a third of adults in France, Sébastien (1) suffers from high blood pressure. This chronic disease involves taking daily treatment, which must be renewed every three months. Since he moved to Challans (Vendée) two years ago, Sébastien has not found a doctor. “All the surgeries around are full, so I stopped looking,” admits the father of the family.
While waiting to be able to integrate a patient population, faced with the inability to renew his prescription to continue his treatment, Sébastien resigned himself to buying his drugs from foreign sites. In addition to being illegal, this practice, which excludes any reimbursement, costs him no less than €127 every three months. “Fortunately, I have training as a pharmacy technician to know what I’m buying”reassures Sébastien.
“Even with cancer, the surgeries refuse me”
In theory, the dosage of the treatment of high blood pressure should be adjusted regularly according to the blood pressure of the patients. This is where a regular appointment with a general practitioner is essential. Sébastien’s treatment has not been seen for two years. He procured “a tensiometer”a device that allows him to monitor his blood pressure daily.
For Évelyne, the urgency is glaring. At 44, she has breast cancer. Her state of health being fragile, she chose to get closer to her family and move to Roanne (Loire) for support. Since she started her research two months ago, it has been impossible for her to find a treating doctor: “I thought that the medical deserts did not affect the big cities but despite my cancer, all the practices refuse me”despairs the mother of the family.
“Doctors are already overwhelmed”
Against the wall, Évelyne chose to ask for help on social networks, “but I was told that 10,000 people from Roanne were already without a doctor”, she laments. His illness implies having access to emergency care in the event of a viral illness or treatment side effects, “but the teleconsultations that I find will not be enough forever”. Today, the 40-year-old almost regrets having moved: “Being close to my family was supposed to help me bear the disease, but without a doctor, I am even more worried than before. »
Lyla has also experienced the lack of availability of doctors. Suffering from two rare autoimmune diseases, she has seen the quality of care from general practitioners deteriorate: “The more time passed, the more the doctors were overwhelmed, the less time they had to give”, she recalls. Whether ” On paper “she now has an attending physician, according to her, he takes care of too many patients to be able to coordinate his care. “So I organized my appointments with specialists myself and to renew my treatment, I contact the medical secretary and do not go to a consultation”, regret Lyla.
“We make lace”
Like Sébastien or Évelyne, 600,000 people with chronic illnesses have no attending physician. On January 30, Health Minister François Braun promised that they would all be contacted by health insurance by June. Since then, health insurance agents have mobilized and found a doctor treating thousands of patients. “We make lace”, we are assured at the Ministry of Health. Sébastien however finds it difficult to believe in a positive outcome. “Apart from finding me a doctor 200 kilometers from my home, I don’t see what solution they can find; near my house, there is none. »“There are no doctors, we cannot invent them, abounds Evelyne. And the few that there are are already overwhelmed. »