“11.90 euros per month” for medical teleconsultations at will. The offer of the private hospital group Ramsay Santé could appeal at a time when access to care is increasingly difficult in many territories. As long as it is worth “24 hours a day” And “7 days a week”, to read the brochure which has been causing a stir, for the past few days, on social networks. It did not fail to shock the ranks of the medical community and beyond, while health has little in common with the commercial world. And its slogans.
“Can’t get an appointment with a doctor?” », ” Do you need an answer to a health question or a medical opinion? », « Teleconsult easily », “Whenever you need it, all costs included” : Ramsay’s formula, which has actually been around for almost a year, has caused a public outcry.
“Unacceptable”, ” never seen “, “mind-blowing”… can we read in doctor exchange loops. “I am distressed by this commodification, says hepatologist Anne Gervais, member of the inter-hospital collective. Opposite, we see no desire for regulation, the Social Security does not move a finger, how is this possible? How can we suggest that access to health care is like a subscription to Orange ? »
Twenty specialties
The National Council of the Order of Physicians was moved on June 8 by a “initiative contrary to medical ethics”. These teleconsultations “threat the healthcare system” And “challenging the French healthcare model based on solidarity and free healthcare”believes the ordinal body, which appeals to the Ministry of Health.
This one answered. “It’s not the model I believe in, said the Minister of Health, François Braun, at the World. I am too attached to the role of the attending physician, two-tier medicine is not a solution for access to health. » He assures that he intends to use ” all means (…) to regulate teleconsultation companies in order to avoid any drift”.
The denunciation has already gone beyond health circles. “Do we now have to pay to have access to care? », got emotional the collective Our public services, who curried a “paying skip-the-line to deal with the saturation of care”.
What is really the offer of Ramsay, a group which has 443 private establishments in Europe and wants to be the “European leader in the global care offer” ? In essence, it is a question of offering a direct connection between the subscribed patient and doctors of 20 specialties at the end of the line or by video. This goes from the psychiatrist to the gynecologist through the general practitioner. It is not unlimited: a “reasonable” number of calls – 20 per year – is authorized.
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