At the doctor's office, you may find the door closed.
Liberal doctors are again called upon to close their practices from Monday until January 2 to demand an increase in the consultation fee, as well as an improvement in their working conditions.
This is the second movement in less than a month, after two days of strike at the beginning of December.
The authorities' call for a "sacred union" of health professionals, in the hope of "relieving" hospitals overwhelmed by the "triple epidemic" of Covid-19, bronchiolitis and influenza, did not make them give up " Doctors for tomorrow”.
This collective had signed a coup on December 1 and 2: its slogan of closing medical offices led to a drop in activity of around 30% among general practitioners, according to Health Insurance.
pic.twitter.com/dcpBqCWVaU
— Doctors For Tomorrow (@MedPourDemain) December 25, 2022
A call for a new strike between Christmas and New Year's Day has thus been launched, with the support of certain unions (UFML, FMF, SML, Young Doctors).
The mobilization "will be a little less, let's face it, but despite everything substantial", predicted the founder of "Doctors for tomorrow", Christelle Audigier, who is already planning towards the national demonstration planned in Paris on January 5.
Create an “attractiveness shock”
His collective is calling for a doubling of the basic consultation fee (from 25 to 50 euros) to create a "shock of attractiveness" towards city medicine in dire need of staff, crushed by administrative tasks and which no longer attracts young people.
All doctors' organizations are also worried about their freedom of establishment, challenged by bills on medical deserts.
Read alsoFive minutes to understand why liberal doctors will strike
Ongoing negotiations with Health Insurance have however produced “progress”, which has led several of the main unions (MG France, the CSMF and Avenir Spé) not to call for the cabinets to be closed during the holidays.
The Minister of Health, François Braun, hailed their "responsibility", given the "critical situation" of hospital emergencies.
“It seems to me a very bad time not to respond to the healthcare needs of the population”, argued the director general of the Regional Health Agency (ARS) Île-de-France, Amélie Verdier.
If necessary, the ARS will be able to requisition strikers.
One of the leaders of the movement, Jérôme Marty (UFML), procrastinates: “If the demand is high due to viral circulation, we will take a few patients”, he acknowledged.