A problem that affects almost a third of the French population. In 2022, 30% of French people live in a medical desert: a city, a department or even a region where health services are less and less present and where patients sometimes have to wait several months and travel tens of kilometers , for a fair date.
The daily BFMTV podcast, “Le titre à la une”, took an interest in this scourge. Guest on the program, Bruno Roujoan, senator from Allier, recalls some key figures.
“We have about 6 million French people who no longer have a doctor, one in three French people who live in a territory known as a medical desert, and 1.5 to 1.7 million who abandon treatment because they cannot access it quickly,” said. .
The story of a decrepitude
How is a medical desert formed? Asked about “Le titre à la une”, Hiba Trraf, a pediatrician at the Montluçon hospital, still in the Allier department, presents her last years in the establishment that perfectly illustrates the progressive decrepitude of the public. Having resigned, she will regretfully step down from her duties on November 1.
“At first there are seven pediatricians, little by little there is a move, then another, a retirement, we look at each other thinking what is going to happen. Even for 15,000 euros a month nobody wants to come and risk their mental and physical health, and above all that of a child, there are things that are priceless”, she assures.
Due to this lack of personnel, the day to day of this service, through which about 80 children pass daily, becomes hell. From time to time, you can work 80 to 120 hours a week and put your life on hold.
“You can last a few weeks, a few months, but after a while it’s very exhausting. Last winter was an electric shock, I lost six kilos, you wake up at night, it’s difficult psychologically. I can no longer support the system, to be an accomplice about it,” he laments.
Logically, his resignation is also a problem since his departure, if not surprising, was not foreseen by his superiors and the hospital center will be left without pediatricians.
“I’m sorry for the situation, I tried to avoid it, but I couldn’t take it anymore, I’m physically and psychologically tired. I am angry about what could have been anticipated, ”she insists, she says again.
Solutions on the table
If Senator Bruno Roujoan believes that “much has been done to encourage doctors to settle in territories with scarce resources”, this is still quite insufficient. According to the elected official, it is now up to “open prescription to other professions established in the territories”, including “pharmacists and nurses”.
“You have to be serious, have protocols that regulate the work between them and the doctor, who cares for patients,” he says.
As a second proposal, the senator believes that it is important to relieve health professionals of administrative work, which occupies between 15 and 30% of their day. “Medical assistants are needed, to do the preparatory work but also the administrative work,” he concludes.
Source: BFM TV
