2024-10-18 14:24:00
October 18, 2024
A recent survey carried out by the French Federation of General Practitioners (MG France) reveals worrying waiting times for obtaining specialist consultations… even if the appointment is made by the general practitioner himself.
During a press conference on Thursday October 17, the union of general practitioners MG France explained through its president Agnès Giannotti that “ during 1 in 10 consultations, the general practitioner refers the patient to a specialist (…) The question of access (to this specialist) is essential for the care pathway. »
For the attending physician, it is therefore essential to obtain, without too much difficulty or delay, a secondary opinion in order to put all the chances on the patient’s side.
But in reality, is this access easy?
A survey carried out by MG France provides edifying answers. In cardiology for example, nearly 60% of general practitioners cannot obtain an opinion before 8 days, and more than a quarter have to wait more than a month. This situation is particularly worrying given the potential urgency of heart problems.
Dermatology is not much better off, with only 20% of GPs able to obtain an appointment within 7 days, and a third facing delays exceeding 3 months. “ In three months, what will happen to skin cancer? », asks Dr Jean-Christophe Nogrette, deputy general secretary of the union, on the site www.egora.fr.
For potentially serious pathologies such as decompensated diabetes or threatening hyperthyroidism, 30% of doctors wait more than two months for an “urgent” opinion. In gastroenterology, 40% of general practitioners face delays of more than a month. Even for urgent cases such as suspected digestive tumors, 9% of general practitioners can only get an appointment after a month.
Psychiatry: alarming delays
For a serious psychiatric pathology, only 5% of general practitioners obtain an opinion within a week, while 56% have to wait more than three months. The situation is even more critical in child psychiatry, with 80% of general practitioners facing delays of more than 3 months. A loss of opportunity for young people, whose mental health has deteriorated since the pandemic.
Access to imaging tests is also a problem, with more than one in five GPs facing delays of more than a month for a CT scan or MRI.
These alarming figures highlight the major challenges facing the French health system in terms of access to specialized care. With this investigation, “ we just want to highlight that the problems of access to care are not just the general practitioner, it concerns all specialties and this difficulty for us to address as a priority is a serious problem », concludes Jean-Christophe Nogrette. “ This is in no way about throwing stones at our colleagues but about seeing how we can work better together.. »
Source: MG France Union, egora.fr, MG France Twitter account
Written by: Vincent Roche – Edited by: Emmanuel Ducreuzet
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