The Var department has ten on-call medical centers which provide permanent non-vital care, outside the traditional opening hours and days of town practices. If until now, a patient could get there without going through box “15”, the rule changes on December 21, requiring patients to dial 15 to be regulated, that is to say directed, or not, towards a medical center (even if the door of the latter is right next to that of the emergency room).
Limited remuneration for doctors
If this new rule was put in place to limit abuse, as well as allow better remuneration for practitioners, it is not without consequences for patients and doctors. “Of the 10,000 patients on average that we receive each year, very few are actually sent by Samu ” sums it up Dr William Bouriauxpresident of the association which manages the Brignoles on-call medical center.
These three colleagues and he provide on-call duty at night, weekends and public holidays, on a voluntary basis, in addition to their “classic” day. However, if they continue to welcome patients from December 21, who have not been regulated, they will no longer benefit from slightly higher remuneration. ” There are no longer any candidates to provide on-call duty to see three or four patients in these conditions.” summarizes Doctor Bouriaux.
The doctor also points out the risk of tensionand even violence from patients who may not understand or accept the new device. “The MMG is one corridor away from the emergency room. And from one day to the next, we are going to tell people, you have to call the 15th before we will see you. This is not possible” he concludes.
Report on the 15th: “We don’t really see what it’s for, other than to bottle up the system”
The supervisory authority is not yet able to give figures on the number of additional calls that center 15 in the Var will therefore have to absorb. What does that matter, since the situation is already extremely tense. “We already have 7% more calls every year, without additional resources. We are already handling more calls than in the Alpes-Maritimes but with fewer doctors. It’s catastrophic! The regional health agency does not hear us. This is a risk for patients because it is a loss of opportunity for those who really need urgent care. And it is also a complete demotivation of regulators whose working conditions will get even worse. No longer any doctor volunteers to do regulation at the Samu. We don’t really see what it’s for, other than to bottle up the system.” rages Doctor Christophe Landrieux, general practitioner and president of the association of liberal regulatory doctors of 15.
The council of the Order of Physicians of Var, in charge of receiving the schedules of on-call medical centers in these on-call medical homes, indicates to France Bleu Provence “that the duty rosters are no longer filled from December 21“meaning that at present, all MMGs are affected by this closure.
Better patient awareness
The council of the order has also requested a moratorium of a few months until center 15 can scale according to real needs. In the medical field, we are nevertheless alerted to indiscriminate use of emergency services and doctors. “People need to understand that we don’t try to go to the doctor at night because we have a fever of 38°, a runny nose, or because we have an ear infection that has lasted for a few days.” underlines Dr Alliot. The latter, also a member of the council of the order, is surprised that “the guardianships do not talk at all about education, or information for patients on the subject“.
