The call for a strike by liberal doctors comes at a delicate time. The Doctors for Tomorrow collective has called on liberal doctors to go on strike between Christmas and New Year’s Day, with the support of several unions (UFML, FMF, SML, Young Doctors). The central demand of the collective remains the doubling of the basic consultation rate from 25 to 50 euros, as well as an improvement in working conditions.
The head of the Mulhouse emergency department and the SAMU-Urgences de France association, Marc Noizet, deplored, on Tuesday, December 27, the call for a strike by liberal doctors during the holidays, already condemned by the Minister of Health, François Brown. “This strike comes at the worst of times”he estimated on France Bleu Alsace.
Evoking the “flu epidemic peak”to which are added the epidemics of bronchiolitis and Covid-19, Marc Noizet added:
“For two weeks, we have observed an excessively significant increase, which I would almost describe as dizzying, in activity in the centers [du SAMU]. We are at the breaking point of what we are able to do with the means at our disposal at this end of the year period. »
A demonstration scheduled for January 5
Francois Braun has “firmly” condemned this call for a strike, in a statement sent Monday by his ministry to the press:
“While our health system is facing an exceptional situation, particularly given the triple epidemic which is continuing throughout France, this is putting increased pressure on hospitals and emergency services which are already in a critical situation. »
He welcomed the decision of the main unions (MG France, CSMF, Avenir Spé) which “did not call a strike” and encouraged to do “prevail this spirit of responsibility”. François Braun will do on Tuesday ” at the end of the day “ a point with the regional health agencies, the CHUs and the hospital federations on the situation of the hospitals.
The Doctors for Tomorrow collective, created at the end of the summer, is planning a national demonstration in Paris for January 5.