Between 150 and 200 doctors gathered Tuesday followingnoon in front of the Grand Council of Vaud to denounce a progressive rationing of care. They symbolically handed a yellow card to its president Laurence Cretegny.
“Health in danger”, “The patient first”, “Doctors for tomorrow”, in particular chanted the demonstrators with whistles. The small crowd of white coats, mostly made up of doctors, presented a symbolic yellow card to Laurence Cretegny, president of the Grand Council and first citizen of the canton.
“We want to share with you our concern regarding the lack of new workers and the aging of the population, as well as our desire to re-establish a constructive dialogue with the authorities. We need a public debate, it’s urgent,” said Marc -Antoine Antille, child psychiatrist and co-organizer of the event. “I promise to try,” replied Laurence Cretegny receiving the object.
The organizers point to the current direction of the health system. “For years all the reforms carried out or under discussion have only aimed to restrict or slow down access to care for our patients and lead to an already tangible rationing that we denounce and of which we do not want to be complicit”, they write. in a press release.
Disconnection from the field
According to the doctors, the harmful consequences of the current health policy are multiple. “The state manages figures and statistics, but not the reality on the ground”, protests to Keystone-ATS Sandy Estermann, generalist and co-organizer of the event.
Marc-Antoine Antille, also co-president of the group of Vaud child psychiatrists, agrees. “It is very difficult for new patients to obtain an appointment, which goes once morest certain statistics according to which the child psychiatric profession is over-staffed. In addition, it is common not to be able to hospitalize patients quickly. , in a situation of major crisis”, he testifies.
“In private clinics, a quota of LAMAL patients has been set, while their care is less expensive there than in public establishments”, regrets for his part Vincent Bettschart, surgeon and also co-organizer of the event. “If we are aiming for economy, it is nonsense.”
Doctors say they are particularly worried regarding the aging of the population and the future doubling of the number of seniors. The issue of succession is also a concern, because the physician population is aging. “A quarter is over 60 and half is over 50,” explains Sandy Estermann.
Reconnect
The doctors therefore believe that it is urgent to renew the dialogue with the State. “We want to convey the message that we are essential partners in health policy and not competitors to be crushed”, continues the general practitioner. “It is urgent to launch a public debate so that citizens can have a good knowledge of the issues in this area.”
The “Yellow Card” operation is intended to be apolitical. It was organized by “a group of Vaud doctors from different disciplines, mainly practicing in private practice”. The organizers point out that the event benefits from the support of the Vaud Society of Medicine and several specialist groups.
The demands of the white coats seem to have been heard by the PLR Vaud. The party filed an interpellation on Tuesday followingnoon asking in particular “what dialogue the Council of State will initiate with doctors on these questions” and “what are the measures taken to ensure sufficient training for primary care doctors”, a- he announced via a press release.
This article has been published automatically. Source: ats
