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Updated
Reading 1 min.
in collaboration with
Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)
Medical validation:
December 16, 2022
There are wide disparities in emergency services across France, to such an extent that some residents have to travel more than an hour to seek treatment there.
Worn out by two years of coronavirus and decades of insufficient public policies, the French health system is cruelly threatened. Shortage of doctors, degraded access to care, removal of lines of medical presence… Everywhere in the territory, it is becoming more and more complex to seek treatment. The latest evidence? A map, published on the American website Reddit, which displays the driving time to the nearest emergency service in metropolitan France.
Map of emergencies: widening territorial inequalities
In green, these are emergency services less than 30 minutes by car from home, in red, more than an hour.
And the least we can say is that some regions are hard hit: this is the case of the Hautes-Alpes, the Alpes-Maritimes, the north of the Pyrénées-Orientales, Lozère, Savoie… where emergencies seem to be on the way out.
Territorial inequalities, which do not surprise Dr. Kierzek.
“Territorial inequalities in access to emergency care are constantly growing on the territory… which poses a constitutional problem and makes it a major political issue. Local hospitals closed, maternities closed, technical platforms closed… Because of this situation, many patients are experiencing loss of chance. If they are isolated, it’s even worse: what solution is available to them if the Samu helicopter is not available? Wait for hours? This is unacceptable”.