Liberal practitioners gather at a demonstration in Paris on Tuesday to oppose a bill being considered in the Senate.
Source AFP
© QUENTIN DE GROEVE / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP
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Lwhite coats see red. All the unions of liberal practitioners are calling for the closure of medical practices and a demonstration in Paris on Tuesday February 14, to obtain better prices and block a reform which facilitates access to other caregivers.
The diagnosis is unanimous, from generalists to specialists, from interns to replacements. “The time is crucial for our profession”, said eleven organizations in a press release, denouncing a “dismantling of medicine in France and the destruction of our health system”.
All are calling “for a strike this Tuesday” as well as for “a united demonstration in Paris”, from 1 p.m. between the Ministry of Health and the Senate, where a bill on “direct access” to certain paramedics (nurses, physiotherapists, speech therapists) must be examined at the end of the day.
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Do better than the demonstration of January 5
A text accused of “endangering the health” of the population “by circumventing the coordination function of the attending physician”. Even the Order of Physicians was moved by it, pointing to the risk of a “two-speed medicine” and announcing its presence in the procession.
The organizers hope to do better than their parade on January 5, which brought together between 2,300 and 4,000 practitioners, following a previous closure of medical offices during the holidays.
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A gauge that might be exceeded, because the anger swelled once more in early February, when Health Insurance proposed an increase of barely 1.50 euros in the basic consultation – from 25 to 26.50 euros. “A provocation” for the unions, who expect no less than 30, even 50 euros.
François Braun hears “the anger” of doctors
The director of Health Insurance has promised to go “further” during new meetings with the unions this week, but the negotiations supposed to end at the end of the month are also stumbling over the counterparties requested from doctors – for take on more patients and provide more call duty on evenings and weekends.
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Requirements assumed by the Minister of Health, François Braun, who says he hears “the anger” of practitioners, “but also that of the French who cannot find a doctor”.