Limited budget, increased requests for care, emergency services congestion, public hospital crisis … dysfunctions of the fuel discrimination of the health system in the patient care route. This is revealed by a report by the rights defender “to avoid discrimination in the courses of attention: an equal issue,” published on Tuesday, May 6.
In a panel of 1,500 people interviewed, patients and health professionals combined, several testimonies are related to discrimination, direct or indirect, suffered access to care, but also when carrying out care.
We talk about “discrimination”, when a person is treated in a less favorable way than another, for example, in a comparable situation, in a field provided by law (employment, access to goods and services …) or due to a forbidden criterion (such as sex, origin, sexual orientation, economic situation, disability …).
In the field of health, this discrimination can result in a negative care or even for lower quality management.
“The hospital is not a hotel for the exhausted single mother”
The discrimination observed on the care route is based on a set of prejudices and stereotypes that influence professional health practices “despite a strong ethical framework,” the report said.
In the case of access to care, patients benefit from “differentiated attention” according to their sex, their origin, nationality and their economic vulnerability
A 2023 study reveals that a white man would have 50 % of an additional possibility that a black woman is considered a vital emergency when she consults in an emergency service for chest pain.
In most cases, the patient’s pain, especially when he is young, of foreign origin (or perceives as such), is minimized or questioned. In some cases, it is also attributed to an alleged anxiety or hidden psychological suffering.
However, “the fact of treating women differently in the emergency room, by disqualifying their speech or minimizing their suffering, it is likely that it constitutes legal discrimination,” alerts the report.
Another case that Single mothers particularly exposed to discrimination, due to their sex and family situation.
While performing in the emergency room after drug overdose as part of his treatment for several chronic pathologies, a patient testified that a doctor had rejected his blood report. “The hospital is not a hotel for a single mother,” said the health professional.
“Mediterranean syndrome” continues
According to the report, people perceived as not bench are also less supported in the emergency room. A racist prejudice that continues to persist in hospitals is the “Mediterranean syndrome.”
This preconceived idea, and without a medical base, assumes that people of origin in North Africa or black would exaggerate their symptoms or pain. This leads to a minimization of suffering or even a negative attention, with “sometimes fatal” consequences, says the report.
“In spite of seven successive calls of vomiting and stomach pain, a young woman perceived as Negra faced Samu’s refusal to take care of her, the latter advised her that” comma yogurt “while waiting for the pain to disappear,” the report said. Upon reaching the emergency room, the woman actually suffered from acute pancreatitis.
Management behavior stigmatization
Beyond consultation negatives, discrimination also occurs during management. Even when they access care, many patients say they still suffer discriminatory comments or attitudes.
For fear of being stigmatized or less treated, patients end up limiting their appointment only to the necessary consultations, such as the search for a treatment, for example.
“I have the impression that sometimes I am much more disabled by others and by the medical profession than for my illness itself. I am afraid to go to the doctor. I was not afraid before. Going to the doctor was a bit boring.
Illegal practices that can lead to convictions
French law recognizes various types of discrimination: “direct discrimination”, when a person undergoes an unfavorable treatment, based on one of the criteria prohibited by law: “indirect discrimination”, when the author makes a decision that, at a disadvantage, a person in relation to another, and “discriminatory”, when it is based on the criteria prohibited by law.
In France, discrimination is a crime, punishable with sentences of up to three years in prison and 45,000 euros fine, and aggravated sentences in certain circumstances.
In the field of health, professionals are subject to a clear legal code called “Public Health Code”, which stipulates that “no person can be discriminated against in access to prevention or care.”
Source: BFM TV
