“
An installation bonus, official accommodation for two years, a company car, building land and a salary of 6770 euros net after tax.
This is the list of exorbitant requirements of a young doctor from the Paris region to come and settle in the town of Barneville-Carteret, in La Manche, in search of a general practitioner for many months.
After receiving this message on October 28, which overwhelmed him, Mayor David Legouet decided to raise a rant.
"
It is an unacceptable situation
", scolds the elected official, denouncing a real "
blackmail
".
Read alsoInnovation to overcome medical deserts
The case of this young practitioner is not isolated, according to the city council. With medical desertification at work in many municipalities - three quarters have no general practitioner according to the INSEE count - the balance of power is now on the side of doctors. Suddenly, some do not hesitate to raise the stakes. “
Before, these requests, for example for free housing, were made orally. Today, some young doctors are no longer even hiding
”, criticizes David Legouet, who nevertheless refuses to put the whole profession in the same basket.
A fed up shared by many of his colleagues, according to the mayor of the tourist town of 2,300 inhabitants.
"
I received a lot of support from mayors,
" explains the one who personally delivered a letter to Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday evening to tell him about his difficulties.
“
But there is an omerta, no one dares to talk about it, for fear of scaring away potential future doctors.
"
Computer equipment and tax support
If they are indeed less noisy than David Legouet, who shared his indignation in a plethora of media, some other town halls do not hesitate to express their annoyance at the increasing demands of a party. doctors. “
They impose on municipalities unacceptable charges, such as exemption from rent, an apartment or a company house, the support of their computer hardware and software. We must provide them with everything in return for simply exercising their profession,
”fulminates Jean-Pierre Legrand, assistant for social affairs at the town hall of Le Croisic (Loire-Atlantique), who has only one doctor after the recent departure of three practitioners. These requests are frequent, he says. "
Of the ten doctors we met, half made intolerable requests
, ”he says.
The town hall refusing to comply with all these requirements, in particular for budgetary reasons, it is still today in dire need of health professionals.
Read also Doctors: Philippe Juvin pleads for a mandatory assignment of one year in a medical desert
Same problem on the Dordives side (Loiret).
“
As there are more offers than demands, the requirements are increasing,
” points out, disillusioned, Jean Berthaud, mayor of this town of 3,500 inhabitants.
“
Some are asking for official accommodation, and we have even seen someone ask us to take care of their taxes,
” says the city councilor.
And when the town hall thought they had found the rare pearl, the chosen candidate finally refused to practice temporarily in a small office made available to him until a brand new medical house came out of the ground, in the course of 2022.
Ineffective financial incentives
President of the Association of rural mayors of Nièvre, and himself mayor of Varzy (1,100 inhabitants), Gilles Noël wishes to qualify. "
These disproportionate demands are quite rare,
" he assures us. They often come from "
the young generation
", notes Jean-Pierre Legrand, assistant at Le Croisic. "
There is a generational effect
", confirms Cédric Szabo, director of the Association of rural mayors of France (AMRF), for whom "
we have accustomed young doctors to have the red carpet rolled out when they arrive in a territory.
".
Several financial and fiscal incentives have in fact been created in recent years to encourage young graduates to set up in medical deserts, for example the contract for assistance in the installation of doctors (CAIM), which takes the form of aid of 50,000 euros (paid in two installments), for an activity of four days a week.
Read also Against medical deserts, "the account is not there", judge MoDem deputies and a senatorial report
"
Since the incentive does not work, we must go through the obligation,
" said the mayor of Barneville-Carteret, David Legouet. This is the whole purpose of a bill tabled this Friday by some forty deputies, which aims in particular to oblige young doctors to practice for three years in “
under-resourced
” areas, at the end of their ten years of service. 'studies. It also wishes to condition the installation of doctors in so-called “
overdotted
” areas on the departure of a practitioner. This last measure is also among the avenues proposed by the Communist deputy for Seine-Maritime Sébastien Jumel, including the bill "
for accessible health to all and against medical desertification.
Will be discussed on December 2 at the National Assembly.
SEE ALSO
- In Montluçon, the medical desert is progressing in the face of the closure of the health center
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