Six weeks of consultation, and a strong decision at their end.
The Doctolib platform announces this Wednesday that naturopaths, sophrologists, mediums and other professionals in the field of well-being can no longer be referenced on its site.
Their presence caused controversy at the end of August, in particular because of the links between some of these professionals and the very controversial naturopath Irène Grosjean.
More generally, many doctors denounced a mixture of genders.
In total, 5,700 practitioners (out of approximately 170,000 in total) will be “banned” from the site.
This measure will be effective within 6 months, in order to allow them “to reorganize their management of appointments”.
Health professionals with an RPPS number and those with an ADELI number, such as psychologists, will now be the only ones authorized to use Doctolib.
“Recognized trusted third party in healthcare”
“We would like to thank the actors who took part in the consultation and who shed light on this complex work.
We choose responsibility, to guarantee patients objective and verified information, ”said Arthur Thirion, France director of Doctolib, in a press release.
"With this refocusing on the heart of Doctolib's missions, we will strengthen our work on the development of services for healthcare professionals and their patients", agrees general practitioner Jonathan Favre, member of the platform's Medical Committee.
Read alsoNaturopathy: how the Irène Grosjean affair got the better of a thematic day at the Grand Rex
As part of this "consultation", the National Councils of Health Orders, health professional unions, representatives of practitioners exercising well-being professions, patient associations, groups of experts, the Interministerial Mission for vigilance and the fight against sectarian aberrations (Miviludes), as well as the health authorities.
It shows in particular that “Doctolib is identified as a recognized trusted third party in health, which raises legitimate expectations regarding patient information”.
However, “there is no objective and exhaustive means of defining and verifying the level of qualification of practitioners carrying out well-being activities, as is possible for regulated professions”.
Finally, the site offers to participate in a “reflection” on the regulation of these activities.