The doctors collective for tomorrow called for the closure of the firms from December 26 to January 2. Not all unions have followed him. The Minister of Health has condemned the movement.
by Eléa Pommiers
This is the second protest movement in less than a month. Despite the call of the authorities to “the sacred union” of health professionals, liberal doctors are invited to close their cabinet from Monday, December 26 until January 2, before a demonstration in Paris on January 5. As during the first mobilization of the 1 er and December 2, the collective “asyndical and apolitical” doctors for tomorrow is the initiative of the movement.
“The strike is not a habit of our profession, says Christelle Audigier, general practitioner of Lyon and founder of the collective, from a Facebook discussion group bringing together 15,000 people. If we arrive there, it’s Because we have no other way to be heard. “
Negotiations undertaken in November between representatives of liberal practitioners and health insurance to define an agreement for the next five years have, for the collective, provided “no concrete response” allowing the “shock of attractiveness “That he claims at a time when fewer and fewer young doctors wish to settle. Among the group’s flagship proposals is the doubling of the basic consultation rate of 25 to 50 euros. “This would allow us to hire staff to release medical time or invest in equipment,” said Christelle Audigier.
The main unions did not follow
At this stage, the magnitude of the movement is unknown, especially since it occurs during a period of leave for doctors. The collective, which is originally, claims a majority of cabinets at least partially closed but recognizes less mobilization in early December. He then estimated that “60 to 80 %” of the firms had drawn the curtain, while health insurance had measured a drop in the activity of generalists by around 30 %.
Contrary to the first time, the watchword is only supported by part 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 have not followed.
“Their proposals are not ours”, summarizes Agnès Giannotti, president of MG France, majority among generalists, for whom “consultation at 50 euros is not a structuring response” to improve working conditions and does not frame with the diversity of pathologies. During the last plenary meeting with health insurance, on December 15, an overhaul of prices around “three levels” of consultation was mentioned and negotiations on the subject must resume in January 2023.
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