“It is not possible to revalue the consultation from 25 euros to 50 euros”
Starting from December 26, the “Doctors of Sabah” collective is holding a strike demanding a reassessment of medical advice to 50 euros. The MG France union, which has been highly critical of the government for its “lack of consideration”, stands out from the movement, which it considers its claims to be exaggerated.
As the “Doctors of Tomorrow” collective begins its second week of strike calls and plans to demonstrate in Paris on January 5, we spoke to Dr. Anne-Laure Bonis. The Regional Representative of MG France regrets the lack of consideration by the government authorities, but thinks that the 100% increase in the consulting fee is exaggerated in view of the economic situation.
Anne-Laure Bonis : The protest movement launched by “Sabah’s Doctors” collective in early December is very legal. This is a testimony to the fact that we are fed up with our profession in the face of public authorities not recognizing us for our work. But it is not realistic to ask for a reassessment of the consultation, which will later rise from 25 euros to 50 euros. When you know that an increase of one euro leads to a cost of 220 million euros for Social Security, imagine what it will cost to reach the required 50 euros. I’ll spare you the math, that equates to €7 billion. It is impossible.
A.-LB : Of course, we should demand a reevaluation of our actions, but in a more reasonable, more realistic way. The last increase we saw in the cost of care was in 2017. We went from €23 to €25 per tip. Since then nothing has happened and with the inflation we are experiencing we all need compensatory measures. We are asking for the consultation to be increased to 30 euros and for the government to stop opening our profession. Direct access to physical therapists or nurses is a false good idea. You need to understand that we are the first link in the chain of care that allows us to diagnose and refer patients to the right specialist. We are not “just” general practitioners!
A.-LB : What is needed is to allow general practitioners to spend more time in contact with our patients by freeing us from non-medical tasks such as disinfecting the office or even updating the health record. . For this we require the availability of medical assistants. President Macron says he wants a general practitioner for every Frenchman, so we must make it an attractive profession by fully upgrading it!
Listen, we spend an average of 18 minutes with each patient we receive for consultation. And for each of these cases, there are about 3-4 different reasons for consultation. See how Germany coped with the influx of patients during the first wave of Covid-19 we experienced. Well, if that has happened to them, it is because they have given their doctors the means to practice their profession under good conditions. This is not the case with us.
Sometimes we deal with patients in our office who are in “complex situations.” An example is an elderly woman with a limb amputee, an infected wound, fever and, in addition, blood pressure problems. There is nothing available for such situations! We would like such consultations to be able to move to €60 from April 2022, as are long home visits which benefit from the €70 price.
All of these improvements could allow our profession to stop the bleeding. 4 yearsc a year’s rural medical internship and the lack of attention of health authorities to our profession, it is no wonder that more and more general practitioners are deciding to take their own plates or refuse to refer students. this specialty. Because yes, general medicine is a respected specialty in itself!
