In France, the appointment books for 5,000 ophthalmos are full. And waiting times vary from 60 to 111 days on average, and can exceed a year in Picardy or Franche-Comté. To fight against this emergency situation, Dominique Voynet, General Inspector of Social Affairs proposed to the Minister of Health, measures to facilitate access to care. Marisol Touraine would indeed like to “reduce by half the average time observed” by 2017. To face this worrying time, the profession has looked into finding solutions. One of the avenues proposed is the development of the delegation of tasks to orthoptists.
Tested in 2013, in the Pays de la Loire (the most affected by these waiting times), this device has yielded conclusive results: the ophthalmologist is only responsible for the prescription, it could focus on complex pathologies and waiting times fell to around ten days, compared to twelve months previously.
Following this experience, Dominique Voynet also suggests “to authorize liberal orthoptists to make visual assessments that they will send to the ophthalmologist, to recognize their right to prescribe orthoptic rehabilitation equipment or to open more places. of training in this discipline practiced by a little less than 4,000 people ”.
It also proposes that “opticians, authorized to renew glasses and adapt them under certain conditions, could also have the right to perform this type of act with contact lenses.
77 days on average waiting
In France, making an appointment with the ophthalmologist requires a little anticipation. A survey carried out in 2014 by Yssup Research among 2,643 ophthalmologists for the Point Vision group revealed a worrying situation. Indeed, when an ophthalmologist appointment is possible, the patient will have to wait on average 77 days before the consultation. But depending on where you live, the delay can go up to 7.3 months and reach more than a year for some practitioners. 15% of ophthalmologists also refuse to receive new patients and, in ten departments, refusals of appointments due to a saturated agenda concern 30 to 65% of liberal specialists. The shortest delays were observed in Paris, in Hauts-de-Seine (92), Alpes-Maritimes (06) and Bouches-du-Rhône (13). Patients wait between 24 and 40 days on average, while in Loire (42), Finistère (29), Isère (38) and Seine-Maritime (76), the delays remain very long, often exceeding 152 days of waiting. In Rennes and Toulouse, the wait even exceeds 3 months. The patients of the Loire are the worst off. They must wait 205.3 days on average to consult, knowing that the rate of impossibility to make an appointment is very high (65%).
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