Access to healthcare increasingly complicated for a majority of French people

The conclusion is clear. According to an Ifop study carried out online on December 7 and 8 for the Biogaran laboratory and unveiled by our colleagues from Parisian this Tuesday, 74% of those questioned believe that the health care system has deteriorated in our country in recent years. In 2007, this figure stood at 57%.

So what is this increase due to? According to Jacques Battistoni, president of the MG France general practitioner union, if the hospital system is “out of breath”, it is in part because of “the retirement of many general practitioners”, without them being replaced. Indeed, a report from the Directorate of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (DREES), a body attached to the Ministry of Health, predicts a continual decline in the number of doctors until 2028, with a return to at the current level forecast for 2035.

99 out of 100 patients treated in an office

Jacques Battistoni also reveals that “recourse to the hospital concerns only one patient in a hundred per day”, the medical offices taking care of the remaining 99 people. Consequence: the cabinets are congested. According to the Ifop study, 70% of those questioned affirmed having given up on a consultation with a doctor at least once in their life. This figure rises to 51% for general practitioners alone, whether established in Paris or in the provinces. However, according to the DREES report, French general practitioners have suffered a reduction of 5,000 positions since 2015.

Besides the financial aspect, the problem is also of a territorial nature, with difficulties of access to health care in rural areas. But solutions are emerging to fight against medical desertification. The setting up of secondary practices and nursing homes is one of them.