2024-10-18 09:49:00
Dermatology and psychiatry proved particularly difficult to access, according to a survey where more than 1,000 general practitioners gave their estimates of the time it takes to obtain an appointment with a specialist.
Access to care is increasingly difficult, even in an emergency. According to a study by the first general practitioners’ union MG Francewhich calls for “better organization” among professionals, getting an appointment with a specialist doctor “for an urgent request for advice” always proves difficult, particularly among dermatologists or psychiatrists.
The finding is based on a survey (online, from September 14 to October 7), where more than 1,000 general practitioners gave their estimates of the time it takes to obtain an appointment with a specialist when they judged that it was “not necessary hang out.”
Affected sectors
When the general practitioner requests a “rapid opinion” from a dermatologist, for example in the event of suspected cancer, “in a large third of cases (36%), this is not possible before three months”, declared Jean- Christophe Nogrette, deputy general secretary of MG France, during a press conference.
Around 51% of GPs surveyed waited 31 days or more, and 20% were able to get an appointment within 7 days.
“When we need a psychiatrist for a patient who is really very unwell, who is psychotic for example, who is starting to become delirious, in more than half of the cases (56%), we will not get an appointment before three months,” he pointed out. Only 5% of general practitioners said they made the appointment within the week.
“Child psychiatry is even more affected: 79% of patients will not have this opinion for three months,” lamented the number two of MG France.
With the cardiologist, it is at least eight days in 59% of cases and more than a month in a quarter of cases. It will often take more than a month to send a patient to the neurologist (60% of cases), the rheumatologist (50%) or the nephrologist (47%).
“We have to do better”
On the other hand, access is “more fluid” among surgeons (91% of appointments obtained during the month, including 48% within 7 days) or for a scanner/MRI (79% within 30 days, including 28% within 7 days).
“We have to do better, that means organizing among ourselves and we are really counting on specialized care teams,” commented the president of MG France, Agnès Giannotti.
ESS are new forms of organizations gradually developed by specialists in a territory to better respond to the requests of generalists.
Agnès Giannotti once again opposed the proposal of the main specialists’ union Avenir Spé, which would like specialists to be able to speak directly to patients, without having to go to the general practitioner.
“They are already having trouble finding appointments for real emergencies, so if a lot more patients arrive, it will further increase delays. Let’s not make the problem worse,” she argued.
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