170 doctors out of the expected 200. The count is almost good, welcomes the Minister of Health. In the Doctor’s Daily, she says she is confident that the goal of 200 doctors established in the medical deserts be achieved as planned before the end of the year. “The results are very positive,” she said. “We have garnered more than 170 signatures of Territorial Practitioners of General Medicine (PTMG), and we should reach the target of 200 this year, which proves that this measure meets a need”.
170 doctors have signed the “territorial practitioner of general medicine” contract since September. This device responds to a decree published in August 2013 intended to encourage medical students to start their working life in medical deserts. These medical deserts correspond to areas under-provided with doctors due to their low attractiveness (rural area or suburbs). Ile-de-France (and particularly Seine-Saint-Denis), the Champagne-Ardennes region, the Pays de la Loire are some of the regions shunned by general practitioners.
A trompe-l’oeil success
This medical desertification affects 2 million French people and worsens inequalities in access to healthcare, according to the Ministry of Health. To reduce it, the “territory health pact” set up in August, grants a guaranteed salary to young doctors of 3640 euros net per month for one year, on condition of performing 165 medical procedures per month and not billing fee overruns. Doctors who have signed this pact also benefit from additional maternity and sickness leave.
If the minister ensures that thanks to these measures, things are going in the right direction, on the ground, the reality would be quite different. Regional health agencies are having difficulty finding candidates, according to Le Figaro, who cites the example of Limousin.
