The story takes place in Laigneville, a small town of 5,000 inhabitants located in the Hauts-de-France region (60). Since this Wednesday, May 17, 2017, the Laignevillois and the Laignevilloises simply no longer have the right … to die at home.
The municipal decree was taken by the mayor, Christophe Dietrich (without political label). Concretely, this official text prohibits the inhabitants of the municipality from “dying at home on the territory of the municipality”.
An absurd and perfectly inapplicable decision, yes … but above all symbolic. Because Laigneville is in the heart of a medical desert: the mayor explained in particular that 4 to 6 hours are sometimes necessary to find a doctor in order to note a death, hence sometimes inextricable situations.
5 hours of waiting before seeing a doctor
Thus, this Wednesday, May 17, 2017, the mayor was called following the discovery of an 80-year-old resident, found lifeless in his home. “It took five hours and dozens of phone calls for the ARS to send me a team from Clermont Smur, which is not the job,” he says, exasperated. And the situation should not improve since, according to him, the two doctors from his city who are retiring this year have no replacement for the moment …
As a reminder, according to a study published recently by the statistics service of the Ministry of Health (DREES), 4 million French people (or 6% of the national population) live more than 30 minutes by road from a service of ’emergency. In addition, while 4 out of 5 people have access to a pharmacy in their municipality of residence, around 1.6 million people live more than 10 minutes from the nearest pharmacy.
To read :
Associate retired and intern doctors to fight against medical deserts
“The prescription” of a Breton doctor against medical desertification
Medical deserts: an installation bonus of 50,000 euros
