The Primary Health Insurance Fund (CPAM) wants to facilitate the establishment of health professionals in our territories. For this, the Présence Médicale 24 platform was created in March to answer all the questions posed by candidates for installation. In Groléjac, in Dordogne, a new doctor was able to benefit from it.
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“An appointement for a few weeks ? Monday is good for you…“A few words of English on the phone. However, we are in a medical practice located in Périgord. After having practiced for 14 years in the Netherlands, Dr Helena Ditvoorst has just taken over the practice in Groléjac, 12 km from Sarlat-la -Canéda, and its international patient base.
Finding a treating doctor becomes more and more difficult, especially when the profession deserts small rural communities. So, it's an added relief when this professional speaks English. The Dordogne, for several decades, has attracted many Northerners, British and Dutch, who have settled there.
The doctor masters French perfectly while retaining her accent. She enjoys talking about her change in latitude. “I always wanted to work in France and I saw in a weekly that my predecessor was going to retire. He was enthusiastic about me coming to work here. And then, I contacted other Dutch and Belgian general practitioners who made this change…”
For Doctor Ditvoorst, it is another organization that must be understood while pursuing the same mission of care. “Here, I work alone. In the Netherlands I had two assistants and two nurses working for me“. In the Netherlands, you must first have the advice of the assistant before an appointment with the doctors. There are many more administrative procedures.
Social security, third-party payer, choice of treating doctor, etc. when you arrive in France, you also have to adapt to its administration. The Regional Health Agency, the department and the CPAM have set up a dedicated service to help medical specialists settle in Dordogne: the Présence Médicale 24 “Care in Périgord” platform.
She found this dedicated platform necessary and felt reassured to be able to contact them. “I have colleagues here, I can ask them for little things. But everyone has a lot of work. For the main explanations, the CPAM helped me a lot.”
There was a global approach when it moved to the CPAM and then a little tailor-made. “IThey told me everything about the French system, the contributions, the technical aspects. Someone has been here I think four times pour me to guide. Now it's okay. I am comfortable“, she smiles.
The “Soigner en Périgord” platform responds to health professionals, from here and elsewhere, who wish to settle in the Dordogne.
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© France 3 Aquitaine
The telephone platform (05.53.35.62.34 5 days a week) is installed within the CPAM of Dordogne. The questions are listed there and the doctors are subsequently contacted with explanations or solutions to their professional and sometimes personal questions. “We will try to take as many steps as possible in place of the professional. I change departments, countries, it's always a bit of pressure. Are my documents up to date?”, describes Stéphane Deschamp, responsible for relations with health professionals at the CPAM de la Dordogne.
He also mentions the relays to find childcare for the children, a job for the spouse, etc… So many answers to be provided thanks to around thirty partners available in the employment, social and entrepreneurship sectors, and thanks to the global vision of the Regional Health Agency.
“We try to respond on the one hand to their project but also to the needs of the territory”insists Sylvie Eymard, deputy director of the departmental delegation of the ARS of Dordogne.
“It is important that all health professionals do not all set up in the same place.”
In Dordogne, the medical demographics are in difficulty: 7.3 general practitioners per 10,000 inhabitants while in the region, we are at 8.2. There is also a lack of specialists. This is why the ARS, the CPAM and the department decided to coordinate their forces. Support work which is also provided to young French interns with a view to their future installation in Périgord.
In France, there is a shortage of doctors in communities far from large cities. So, when we ask Dr. Ditvoorst what she could say to colleagues who are still waiting to take the plunge…”Don't hesitate! It’s a very beautiful area and the people are friendly.”
It must be believed that some have already followed his advice. Since last March, 29 files have been supported by the platform and four installations have already been implemented.
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