So that was launched on Monday the “great consultation” on health supposed to identify, at the local level, levers to relaunch a system in crisis, “Le Monde” gives the floor to women and to Men who explain how they get out of it without access to a general practitioner or specialist.
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All talk about “worry”, some, “anger”, a lot, too, “weariness”. Whether they live in Aveyron, in Yonne, in the Ile -de -France region, in the suburbs of Grenoble or even in Paris, they have in common to have, according to the agreed expression, “renounced care”. A choice that is never one: this is what almost all of the respondents highlight – more than a hundred and thirty, in forty -eight hours – at the call for testimonies that we launched, on Lemonde. fr, about medical deserts and difficulty accessing doctors.
The problem is at the heart of the “big consultation” inaugurated in Le Mans, this Monday, October 3, by the Minister of Health, François Braun, who is committed to the patients to have their place. But, before being a political subject, it is first, for the people who agreed to testify, a “brake”, an “obstacle”, a “headache” with which they are confronted, each in their own way . In isolated territories (“under-dense areas”, according to the official expression), where tensions linked to medical density are known, but also in the city, and even, sometimes, in very large cities, where the care offer can be poorly distributed and not up to needs.
Christine, 57, knows something about it. This engineer (she requested anonymity, like all the people mentioned on which only the first name appears), installed in Houilles (Yvelines), is part of the fringe, difficult to estimate, of the 6 million French (11 %) which, Without a doctor, also gave up “running after”. Too many vain attempts, from cabinet to cabinet, she says. For the past four years, she is mainly treated by “self -medication”, taking advice from her pharmacy or online Vidal dictionary. It also keeps certain drugs beyond their deadline, “sure they can be used”.
“DIY” and “additional costs”
Her situation is “DIY”, but she is satisfied with it for the moment: “I have studied paramedical and I worked as a laboratory technician, so I” speak the language “of this environment , she said. I can contact specialists directly, if necessary. “She also participates in the free screening offered by health insurance. “Fortunately, [she is] still healthy …”
500 kilometers as the crow flies, Philippe, 72, installed in Dordogne, fears the moment when hers could “switch”. “At my age, regular follow -up is essential, and this follow -up is no longer carried out,” regrets the retiree. His attending physician retired in January. Philippe then contacted around thirty cabinets, without succeeding in integrating their patients. “Thirty, I stopped counting. Shortly after, I stopped looking for …” He too practiced self -medication, with over -the -counter medicines. So that he pays from his pocket. “If I want to consult a specialist, having no prescription from a referring doctor, I am only reimbursed 30 %; the rest is at my expense.”
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