For the National Order of Doctors, the SNCF Gares et Connexions project to deploy telemedicine spaces with the presence of a nurse in some 300 stations by 2028, to combat medical deserts, is not acceptable as it is.
In a press release, the Order of Physicians expresses “its deep concern about the development of this commercial and economic activity in the field of Health, an element of its financialization that is already underway.”
The latter even considers that the initiative is counterproductive to solving the problem of medical deserts. “This proposal will divert health professionals, who will be less available to practice in the most vulnerable areas,” he believes.
90% of the population lives within 10 km of a train station.
Scathingly, the Order of Doctors invites the SNCF to concentrate on its main mission, that is, offering quality railway connections and asks the public company to “improve the railway service to the most isolated territories, a real challenge for the attractiveness of the territories with respect to the installation of health professionals Territorial planning is an essential condition for their attractiveness.
The Gares et Connexions project, however, aims to offer a healthcare solution in areas where it is very difficult to seek treatment, focusing on priority intervention areas (ZIP) and concerted development areas (ZAC), characterized by insufficient healthcare provision and difficulties in access healthcare”, that is, 1,735 potential stations, explains SNCF Gares et Connexions in a press release. And remember that “90% of the population lives less than 10 km from a station”.
This Monday on BFM Business, Arnaud Molinié, president of Loxamed, the company that won the tender for the SNCF subsidiary, recognizes that this project “is difficult but it is a necessity for the community. We have done it in co-construction with the health authorities who They will provide scientific and medical guidance for the locations. The first space is expected to open in the first quarter of 2024.
A nurse certified by the State (essentially liberal) will therefore always be present on site and the patient will be “examined remotely by a doctor practicing on French territory”, according to SNCF Gares et Connexions.
The procedure (with an appointment at Doctolib for example) will be billed as a category 1 consultation and, therefore, will be reimbursed by Social Security. “We are really in a normal medical consultation,” emphasizes the manager. The way of responding to the concerns of the Order.
Source: BFM TV
