The numbers speak for themselves. Nearly 6,000 GPs are missing in the countryside, while a quarter of those working in the country are over 60 years old. To fight against medical deserts, the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron, interviewed this Wednesday, October 26, on France 2, says he wants to do “something very simple”.
“All the doctors who are about to retire, we will allow them to retire, he explains, but, on the first day of their retirement, (they could) continue their activity and keep all the income that is theirs, without paying new pension contributions. »
Dr. Jérôme Marty, the media president of the union of the French Union for Free Medicine (UFML), finds this “logical proposal”. Her union has been asking for her for a long time. On the one hand, the Head of State wants to convince doctors to stay and even resume the exercise of their profession, on the other, he wants to entrust more medical tasks to nurses, physiotherapists, pharmacists and paramedics.
Thus, instead of waiting 26 days on average in France, to consult an ophthalmologist, the patient will be able to have his eyesight checked by his optician. “We cannot accept that a child who cannot read well should have to wait six, twelve, ten months to see a specialist! For Dr. Marty, this decision could, however, lead “logically to lower quality care”. “We go down step by step. The right question to ask: why do doctors leave? How do I get them to reinstall? »
“I also want us to reform the organization of our hospitals”
The general practitioner from Fronton, in Haute-Garonne, tackles “tape measures and DIY proposals”. To the medical deserts is added the serious hospital crisis. And the president recognizes this, despite the Ségur and a salary increase of 184 to 400 euros per month, that was not enough. Last illustration of the current disaster: the epidemic of bronchiolitis obliges to deprogram care for lack of beds and to transfer the little patients to another region. A shock letter from 4,000 caregivers, published in Le Parisien – Today in France, was sent to the president last week.
During his interview on France 2, Emmanuel Macron welcomed the measures of the Minister of Health taken this summer to deal with the emergency crisis: better pay for night work, weekends, regulation… “I also want us to reform the organization of our hospitals, that caregivers regain power at the service level, ”he added.