With the approach of the end of year celebrations, the climate is becoming heavier between the unions of liberal doctors, who are calling for mobilization, and the government already struggling with the strong tensions of the hospital system. The Minister of Health, François Braun, sent a message to the address of city doctors, in an interview granted on December 18 to the Sunday newspaper : “Without questioning the right to strike, I call for responsibility, because the period between Christmas and New Year is always complicated, even more so this year due to the triple epidemic. » This message, it repeated it several times since.
After a first mobilization the 1er and December 2, which saw a good number of medical offices close (between 60% and 80%, according to the promoters of the movement), a second strike took shape between Christmas and New Year’s Day. On the initiative once again, the Doctors for Tomorrow collective, with some 15,000 members on social networks, held a press conference on Wednesday, December 21. The opportunity to decline its proposals for refounding city medicine – “one-stop shop” for patients with long-term illness, “remote exercise” in under-resourced areas, end of remuneration based on public health objectives (ROSP), etc. The collective also brings the demand for a consultation at 50 euros, which had served as a watchword, among others, the 1er and December 2.
What union front?
The union front, united at the beginning of the month, is still difficult to assess at this stage. While the union of the French Union for Free Medicine and the Federation of Doctors of France are once again relaying the initiative of Doctors for Tomorrow, also calling for a strike during the “confectioners’ truce”, the Confederation of Medical Unions French suggests closing the cabinets only on Saturdays. The Union of Liberal Physicians, meanwhile, is raising its voice, calling for the guards to close and strike between December 26 and January 5 inclusive. On the general practitioner side, General Practitioners of France supports various initiatives, starting with the “Fridays of Rage” launched with student and intern organizations. While the specialists of the Avenir Spé union remain on the sidelines, judging that “it’s not the time”because “convention negotiations are just beginning”.
The pressure from doctors is, in fact, part of the conventional round between Medicare and representatives of private practitioners, who must set the conditions of the contract binding them for the next five years. These discussions, launched in November, gave rise to a plenary meeting on December 15, during which an overhaul of tariffs around “three levels” consultation was mentioned. But without advancing figures, which irritates many unions.
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