“The medical office will be closed from October 13” : they displayed the message in the waiting room, posted the warning on the appointment platforms. Or, more simply, “anticipated”they say, and avoided scheduling consultations on this date… and the following days.
For liberal doctors, general practitioners and specialists alike, who are preparing to walk out of “pulling the curtain”the mobilization which is taking shape, starting this Friday, has this“unpublished” that it brings together the six unions representing the sector, professional organizations and associations and even young doctors, students and interns. In their ranks, everyone speaks of a unity “historical” ; many also mention a strike “renewable”even, for some people, “unlimited”. In short, a movement to be sustained over time, without gathering or demonstration at this stage.
This is the expression of a ” Fed up “ shared among doctors, of whom only about 10% of the workforce is unionized, but also a way of increasing pressure, on the eve of a key deadline: the resumption of negotiations around the future medical convention with the Health insurance, this contract sets, for five years, the conditions of exercise and remuneration for the entire profession. An emergency for community medicine, after the failure, in February, of a first round. A baptism of fire for the Minister of Health Aurélien Rousseau at a time when the question of access to care is at the heart of concerns.
In the winter of 2022, while previous negotiations were bogged down and a “triple epidemic” combining Covid-19, flu and bronchiolitis was putting the health system under great strain, calls for mobilization crystallized around pricing demands – some, among the doctors, demanding a “doubling” of the basic consultation from 25 to 50 euros, others agreeing on a “minimum” of 30 euros.
“Red Rag”
Almost a year later, the spokespersons for community medicine have, in their slogans, put aside these figures – on which they still do not agree – to close ranks around two demands “phasshared by everyone »argues Franck Devulder, head of the Confederation of French Medical Unions: “Giving the means to liberal medicine to be able to write an ambitious medical convention” And “roll back the coercive aspects of the Valletoux bill”. This is the common denominator.
You have 64.88% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.