This is the second protest movement in less than a month. Despite calls from the authorities to “the sacred union” health professionals, liberal doctors are invited to close their practices since Monday December 26 and until January 2, before a demonstration in Paris on January 5. As during the first mobilization of the 1er and December 2, the collective “non-union and apolitical” Doctors for tomorrow is at the initiative of the movement.
“Strikes are not a habit of our profession, says Christelle Audigier, general practitioner from Lyon and founder of the collective, from a Facebook discussion group bringing together 15,000 people. If we come to this, it’s because we have no other way to make ourselves heard. »
The negotiations started in November between the representatives of the private practitioners and the Health Insurance to define an agreement for the next five years have not, for the collective, brought “no concrete answer” allowing the “attractiveness shock” that he demands at a time when fewer and fewer young doctors want to settle down. Among the group’s flagship proposals figure the doubling of the basic consultation fee, from 25 euros to 50 euros. “This would allow us to hire staff to free up medical time or invest in equipment”argues Christelle Audigier.
The main unions did not follow
At this stage, the extent of the movement is unknown, especially since it occurs during a period of leave for doctors. The collective that is behind it claims a majority of cabinets at least partially closed, but recognizes a lesser mobilization than at the beginning of December. He then believed that “60 to 80%” cabinets had drawn the curtain, while Medicare had measured a drop in the activity of general practitioners of around 30%.
Unlike the first time, the slogan is only supported by some of the unions, in particular the French Union for Free Medicine, the Federation of Doctors of France, the Union of Liberal Doctors and Young Doctors. The main unions did not follow suit.
“Their proposals are not ours”summarizes Agnès Giannotti, president of MG France, majority among general practitioners, for whom “the consultation at 50 euros is not a structuring response” to improve working conditions and does not fit with the diversity of pathologies. During the last plenary meeting with Medicare, on December 15, an overhaul of tariffs around “three levels” consultation has been mentioned, and negotiations on the subject should resume in January 2023.
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