DOCTORS STRIKE. The doctors’ strike is extended until at least the end of the week. This Thursday, January 5, the Minister of Health is ready to negotiate with health professionals on the increase in the price of the consultation while demonstrations are organized.
[Mise à jour le 5 janvier 2023 à 9h16] General practitioners plan to take to the streets again everywhere in France, this Thursday, January 5, 2023. Driven by the “Doctors for tomorrow” movement, an initiative by a health professional based in the Rhône according to progressthe doctors’ strike is extended at least until January 8 because “the government has unfortunately not deigned to pay attention to us despite this first week of strike. On the contrary, we have even been unfairly lectured by our minister” , regretted Dr Mathieu Boulanger, doctor in Tarn-et-Garonne, in the columns of The Midi Dispatch. But while the third national mobilization since the beginning of December is preparing, the Minister of Health François Braun said he was open to the negotiations which are planned for this Thursday after the demonstration of the doctors on strike.
He is “ready to increase the price of the consultation as soon as the needs of the French are met”, by his own admission on the set of 4 Vérité de France 2, this Thursday, January 5. The man, however, dismisses the passage of the amount of a consultation to 50€ and sets conditions for the revaluation required by health professionals calling for “give and take” and calls for each French person to be able to have a treating doctor, “that we can have a doctor at night, on weekends” and “that we can have a doctor during the day if we need one”. Requests that seem to add to the workload of doctors who already complain of being overwhelmed by patients – the fault of the triple epidemic and a lack of health professionals in the cities -. Moreover, the strikes organized by the doctors in this critical period for the health system is not a responsible decision according to the government whose leader, Elisabeth Borne, went there with her tackle at the microphone. France info Tuesday January 3: “I can hear that they may encounter difficulties, that they may wish for improvements, but it is really not responsible to strike, especially in this holiday period, when it has increased the tensions on the hospital”.
Why are liberal doctors on strike?
As from the beginning, the members of this collective are calling for an increase in the prices of consultations, a reduction in their administrative tasks or even incentives to reduce the number of medical deserts. The first claim is the one that crystallizes the most tensions. The doctors are demanding a doubling of the amount of the visit, going from 25 to 50€.
It is difficult to make such a claim heard by public opinion in a context of soaring daily prices and when access to care is not given to everyone. But for professionals, it’s not about getting rich. “It’s to have better working conditions” indicated Morgane Migoux, general practitioner in Condat-sur-Vienne (Haute-Vienne), to France 3 New Aquitaine, highlighting the possibility, thus, of recruiting a medical secretary in charge of administrative tasks, “which is impossible if you are an isolated doctor, or only two in a cabinet”, according to his words. Same story with his colleague from Tarn-et-Garonne: “We could hire, buy equipment. They could better manage appointments, provide basic care advice. This would give us the freedom to do more care.”
This subject, as well as the other claims, which are currently the subject of discussions between the liberal doctors and the health insurance, negotiations for the new agreement between the two parties for the next five years being in progress. It must be signed by March 2023.
How many doctors are on strike?
The “Doctors for tomorrow” movement is not a majority organization among these health professionals. It is therefore difficult to know whether the call for a strike will be followed throughout the week among the 100,000 (approximately) liberal doctors (general practitioners or specialists). At the beginning of December, Health Insurance had indicated that 30% of general practitioners had joined the movement. A number fell between 5 and 10% during the strike between Christmas and New Year’s Day, according to the CNAM, against 70% for the movement “Doctors for tomorrow”. In addition, the strike can take several forms and is not necessarily coupled with a closure of the cabinet, difficult to measure the number of doctors participating in the call.