A study carried out by a medical platform for booking online appointments, shows that the waiting times to consult a specialist would not be so long.
What if the wait times to see a specialist weren’t so dire? A study carried out by the start-up Keldoc and relayed in the Parisian-Today in France, shows that a large number of specialist doctors are more accessible than expected for consultations.
Indeed, some practitioners say they are able to offer an appointment within 48 hours. While waiting times, considered too long by a large majority of French people, are the first factor for giving up care, these figures give hope to patients.
Variable deadlines depending on the specialties
Depending on the density of doctors installed in the same city, waiting times vary. A study by the Jalma Observatory recently showed that it takes, in France, an average of 111 days to obtain an appointment with an ophthalmologist. But in Paris, according to Keldoc, a quarter of these specialists are able to offer an appointment within ten days. To arrive at this figure, the start-up studied the diaries of 2,224 ophthalmologists, or half of those settled in liberal, in the capital.
There are also disparities according to specialties. Gynecologists are thus more available than ophthalmologists. According to Keldoc, in Paris, one in four practitioners can offer a consultation within ten days. Dermatologists and ENTs remain very accessible. Only 17% cannot receive within three months.
Up to two years in the provinces
Sign of a shortage of doctors in small towns, medical desertification is felt especially in the provinces. In these sometimes isolated areas, the number of doctors is low and some patients are forced to wait two years. An aberration that points to the reality of unequal access to care.
As specialists are most often installed in large cities, waiting times are exploding in the provinces and doctors in these regions are the least inclined to take new patients. Almost 17% of ophthalmologists give up making an appointment with a patient they have never seen before. Gynecologists are more than 15% to refuse to grant a consultation to a new patient.
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