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Black tape covers the word equality.
In the town of Grues (Vendée), the republican motto affixed to the facade of the town hall is amputated by a word.
It's been going on for a fortnight already.
"It's a symbolic action to denounce the breach of equal opportunities in access to care and the right to treatment"
, explains
Le Figaro
, Gilles Wattiau, the city councilor behind this idea
"intended to to buzz ".
This is not the first time that the local elected official (without label) has shown originality in highlighting the lack of health professionals in this retro coastal area.
Last April, with colleagues from the sector, they had issued municipal decrees "
prohibiting
" their constituents from giving birth or falling ill.
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“3-4 years ago, there were seven doctors located within a radius of 10km around the town. Soon, there will be only one
,” notes the bitterness of the mayor of this town of 900 inhabitants.
The nearest hospital, that of Luçon, is a 20-minute drive away.
There too, the situation is not very good:
“Several services have closed and the emergency service is threatened.
Every week, elected officials and citizens demonstrate in front of the establishment to exert pressure.
»
Risk of late diagnosis
To illustrate the difficulties encountered by his constituents, Gilles Wattiau takes the example of endoscopies.
“It takes about nine months to a year to get an appointment at the departmental hospital center located 50 km away.
There are possibilities in the private sector but with the frequent overruns of fees, not everyone can afford it, ”
he laments.
The risk of late diagnosis and therefore of potential danger is real according to this former nurse.
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He fights to bring practitioners to his town, located a few minutes drive from the Atlantic Ocean.
He managed to attract an osteopath and a hypnotherapist.
As for a doctor, the city councilor says he is
"confronted with the immobility of the health authorities"
.
According to him,
"the ARS says nothing"
and asks him
"to be patient"
.
Except that it seems to have reached its limits.
“There is a real feeling of abandonment. Elected officials must manage on their own when this kind of problem is not within their competence
, ”protests the man who worked for 32 years in the public hospital.
“In a neighboring town, an nursing home found itself without a doctor.
The ARS did nothing.
This is a person who took it upon himself to find a solution with a retired professional
,” indignant Gilles Wattiau.
A freedom that questions
So many problems that make the mayor wonder about the freedom of installation of doctors:
“We are located equidistant from Sables-d'Olonne and La Rochelle, two well-endowed municipalities.
This is so the case that some practitioners come to practice in the South Vendée because they are in need of patients!
»
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For him, a
"happy medium"
is possible in order to fill the glaring gaps in certain areas and find a better territorial balance.
Decisions still need to be made, which is far from being the case according to him.
“The authorities see no further than the end of their noses.
Example: the decision to add a year of internship in the medical deserts will delay the end of study by one year.
This will create a blank year in the new workforce, ”
he regrets.
As for the effects of the removal of the numerus clausus, they will be felt in
"eight to ten years"
according to the city councilor while the medical sector is already
"on the verge of implosion"
since the Covid crisis.
Faced with this negative observation, the mayor, elected two years ago, will continue to fight.
The ongoing symbolic action is not intended to
“last forever”.
Maybe she will shake things up?
"I have little hope
," concludes Gilles Wattiau, a bit fatalistic.
