They hung up the stethoscope, closed their office. In the Alpes-Maritimes, as throughout France, private doctors choose to leave their waiting rooms closed in the hope of making themselves heard. A movement started on Friday October 13 at the call of the unions representing the profession which are making two demands. The first: the revaluation of the price of the consultation, via the resumption of negotiations around the future medical agreement with Health Insurance (1).
The second: the modification of the Valletoux bill – named following the Horizons MP – which notably includes the participation of private medicine in weekend and night shifts to relieve congestion in public hospitals.
Renewable, the strike continues this Tuesday, October 17. But might experience a new turning point at the end of the day. The unions are waiting to read the government’s framework letter to make their position known regarding the continuation of the social movement.
The document which emanates from the Minister of Health Aurélien Rousseau is addressed to the director of Health Insurance. He gives agreement to revalue the consultation. On November 1, the price must increase from 25 to 26.50 euros with a general practitioner. Which is not enough for those concerned who refused the principle of the price of 30 euros in exchange for more workload.
As a reminder, doctors are already criticizing the current system which, according to them, causes them to waste treatment time on administrative tasks. The argument for the price increase is to be able to hire staff to manage this part. “With the announced increase of 1.50 euros which sets the consultation at 26.50 euros, this gives around 7,000 euros more per year in fees. By removing charges and others, we drop to 2,000 euros. We do not pay a secretary at 60,000 euros per year with that”, indicates Laurent Saccomano, president of the Regional Union of Liberal Health Professionals (URPS) Paca.
Rest assured: appointments are still available today with general practitioners in Nice, as evidenced by the Doctolib platform.
1. Every five years, these negotiations determine the remuneration and conditions of practice in the medical field.
