Le Figaro Marseille
The incident did not fail to move and get people talking in Toulon.
Last Sunday, a practitioner working on behalf of SOS Médecins in the Cité des Œillets de Toulon was violently attacked by several people, when he had just left a consultation with a patient.
The affair led the association to take the decision to no longer return to provide treatment in the neighborhood on a temporary basis.
As reported in the press, the events occurred in the middle of the street.
The caregiver, arrested by the vision of a burning trash can, took his phone out of his pocket to film the scene.
Several young individuals then attacked him, chasing him before hitting him several times in the face.
The doctor managed to leave the scene at the wheel of his car, fortunately without being seriously injured but in a state of shock.
“He is doing well, at the time with the adrenaline he wanted to continue the work. It was only the next day that he found himself shocked
,” assures Gérald Dauphin, president of SOS Médecins in Toulon, to Le
Figaro
.
A few days after the events, this
“experienced”
practitioner was finally able to resume his activity, but his association took the decision to no longer carry out his missions at home in the city of Oeillets.
If the situation calms down in the future, we will return.
We are sorry for the residents who can no longer be visited, but we also have to make choices because we cannot meet everyone's requests.
Doctor Gérald Dauphin, president of the SOS Médecins association in Toulon
“My main problem is the sustainability of the association. We must be able to recruit doctors. When there are complications as in this type of case, it is likely to dissuade doctors from going to a neighborhood to make visits
,” explains Doctor Gérald Dauphin, confirming that this decision is not not without precedent since gunshots had already led the association to no longer go to the city for some time.
“If the situation calms down, we will go back”
“If the situation calms down in the future, we will go back. We are sorry for the residents who we can no longer visit, but we also have to make choices because we cannot respond to everyone's requests
,” he maintains, explaining that this type of incident also hides numerous problems with access to care in the area.
“Last year, we provided nearly 162,000 appointments.
We cannot ensure all visits everywhere, especially when 20,000 of these appointments are not honored by patients
,” continues Gérald Dauphin, who maintains that
“access problems”
to certain neighborhoods already prevent the association of go to other sensitive condominiums, such as Le Bosquet.
In January 2022, the staff of SOS Médecins in Toulon asserted their right of withdrawal after the violent attack on a caregiver in the Pont-du-Las district, whose equipment and vehicle had been stolen.
The activity of the practitioners had ceased there for almost 48 hours.