FRANCOIS BRAUN. François Braun is the new Minister of Health since July 4, 2022, who is the emergency physician and author of the flash mission in charge of finding a solution to the emergency crisis?
[Mis à jour le 5 juillet 2022 à 12h01] François Braun is the new Minister of Health and Prevention. Appointed on July 4, 2022 to the government, the name of this emergency doctor is not completely unknown in the ranks of the majority. Behind the scenes, he has been one of the referents of La République en Marche in terms of health since January 2022 and responsible, since the end of May, for the flash mission launched on the state of the public hospital. His installation on avenue de Ségur then seems logical. By choosing François Braun, Emmanuel Macron decides to put the Ministry of Health in the hands of a doctor as he had done in 2020 by setting his sights on Olivier Véran. A decision that looks like a message to the caregivers whose sympathy he hopes, perhaps.
The new Minister of Health, doctor and president of Samu-Emergencies, however, is not unanimous among caregivers. If some applaud the return of a health professional to the ministry, others tackle his political and sometimes careerist side. “We saw him a lot in front of the cameras during the Covid-19, but in the hospital, he shines above all by his absence. […] He is someone who cares a lot about his personal career. He got together with Macron when he is supposed to defend the emergencies in France… He has a liberal vision of the hospital, so we don’t expect anything extraordinary from it”, scolded the childcare nurse and representative of the union. Sud Santé, Patricia Schneider with 20 minutes The 4th of July. Others, such as Christophe Prudhomme, emergency physician and spokesperson for the Association of Emergency Physicians of France (AMUF) with France infoare more severe and judge that “this appointment is a real provocation” pointing fingers at the “catastrophic” proposals of the new minister for emergencies. To convince, François Braun must face major challenges, in particular the hospital crisis for which he wants to act “as an emergency doctor”, he assured on July 4.
The profile of François Braun, appointed Minister of Health and Prevention, Monday July 4, 2022, is not political, but rather that of an expert in his field. An asset to settle on the avenue de Ségur and respond to the problems and especially the requirements of the medical sector in crisis? The next ones will tell us. Because it is a colossal project that awaits the minister and author of the recent flash mission on emergencies, his workplace and therefore of choice. François Braun presented his conclusions and his proposals to improve working conditions and the efficiency of services on July 1, and it is now up to him to implement them. Jumbled up, the doctor proposed better regulation of patients and emergencies by the 15, the establishment of a “bed management” or a person responsible for managing beds in all departments, or even the establishment of ‘a care access service’ (SAS). There is no doubt that its first challenge will be to make the public hospital breathe and to appease the anger of caregivers.
The resumption of Covid-19 with an increase in the number of new daily cases promises to be another priority at the start of the Minister’s mandate. While the question arises of reconnecting with barrier measures such as wearing a mask compulsory in transport or places with high promiscuity, François Braun will have to quickly decide. On this point, the minister called on the French to be responsible on July 4 on BFMTV: “It’s safer to put on the mask. It’s safe for yourself, it’s especially safe for others”.
François Braun, a doctor engaged in politics?
The emergency doctor became politicized during the last presidential campaign when he became one of the three referent health advisers for Emmanuel Macron and more broadly for La République en Marche. In January 2022, he was consulted for the construction of the program of the Head of State and in May 2022 a new mission was assigned to him: the flash mission on emergencies for which he submitted his recommendations. A calendar that corresponds with the publication of a column by François Braun highlighting the precariousness of 120 emergency services across the country, forced to limit their activity for lack of caregivers. If he got closer to the majority, the emergency doctor explained in May to France Blue not being in favor of all the measures taken by the executive: “There are already things that have been done, so it’s a bit of a continuation. Even if I don’t necessarily agree with everything that was done.”
François Braun also distinguished himself in front of the cameras and on partly political subjects during the Covid-19 health crisis, at the start of 2020. While stationed at the Metz-Thionville University Hospital, he spoke on the first patient transfers, one of its initiatives in the face of the overload of hospital services. He was also one of the first to warn about the situation and the dramatic turns it could take.
The president of Samu-Urgences de France had been chosen by Emmanuel Macron to lead a flash mission on the hospital. François Braun was the ideal profile for the President of the Republic, since he had participated in the development of Emmanuel Macron’s health program. The emergency doctor had made his recommendations recently. Friday July 1, 2022, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne indicated that François Braun’s 41 proposals were selected, during a trip to the Pontoise hospital center in Val-d’Oise. However, these measures are only “short-term responses”. François Braun demanded, among other things, additional remuneration for night work, a 50% increase for doctors’ guards or even easier procedures for the remobilization of retired doctors. Appointed to head the Ministry of Health, François Braun will therefore be able to implement his “own program”.
François Braun led a career as an emergency physician. Until Monday July 4, 2022, he exercised the function of head of emergencies at the regional hospital center of Metz-Thionville, and this, for almost four years. For 13 years, he practiced medicine in this CHR. Previously, he worked in the Verdun hospital center for 20 years. However, François Braun will be the minister of all doctors. The boss of MG France, union of general practitioners, Agnès Giannotti, wants to be confident on this subject: “we had good discussions. Although his cup of tea is the hospital, he was very attentive to the problems primary care. He seems open to reflection,” she told Le Parisien.