Waiting times for medical appointments are getting longer, complicating access to care. Gynecologyis a good example: one in three women has not had a consultation in the past three years, points out a Harris Interactive study for Medicine4i, an independent site for online assessment of doctors by their patients. The survey, which questioned 4,000 patients on their health concerns, reports the dissatisfaction of the French with the “very long” waiting times to obtain appointments for medical specialties.
Gynecological follow-up is symptomatic of these difficultiesHealth care access. 1 in 4 women waits 5 months or more to get an appointment with the gynecologist in France. If the wait is long, the consultation lasts very little time: 1 gynecology consultation in 4 does not exceed 15 min.
The survey highlights geographic disparities concerning waiting times: if it takes 33 days to wait to see a gynecologist in the Paris-Hauts-de Seine area, patients must wait 73 days in the West .
No wonder, therefore, that many women give up going to see a gynecologist every year: nearly 4 out of 10 women have not consulted a gynecologist in the past 3 years, underlines the survey.
The Great West region, the great forgotten
Gynecology is not the only specialty that suffers from these waiting times. In France on average, 1 in 4 patients waits 6 months or more to go to the ophthalmologist. It takes 90 days or more for an appointment with a cardiologist and 60 days or more for an ENT.
Whatever the medical specialty, the geographical divide between Paris and Hauts-de-Seine on the one hand and the rest of France is emerging: waiting times are much longer outside Paris. The Grand Ouest region seems to be the great forgotten one in all specialties, with deadlines
waiting times varying from double to triple compared to Paris and the Hauts de Seine. For example, to consult an ophthalmologist, a resident must wait more than 124 days against 46 days for a Parisian.
Study carried out by Harris Interactive for Medicine4i among 4,000 French people.
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