“The general practitioner remains a referent and the primary diagnosis is fundamental,” says Doctor Jean-François Deyris. The general practitioner is one of the practitioners who will settle in the future health center of Pau, rue Solférino, by 2026. As he said during the presentation of the project, he is worried about the transmission of his cabinet.
The problem is well known and Pau, like many other towns, suffers from the numerus clausus policy which will have an impact until 2030. “If the number of physiotherapists, nurses and pharmacies in the town of Pau remains high according to data from the ARS (Regional Health Agency Editor’s note), the number of general practitioners has decreased significantly over the last ten years,” reports the City of Pau.
Moving to the suburbs
The community, during the communication around the future center, provided numerous figures which make it possible to draw up an inventory of city medicine. “The number of general practitioners between 2014 and 2023 in the municipality of Pau fell from 91 to 76, a drop of 16.5%. In fact, in November 2024, there are actually 62 active and installed general practitioners. » The statistics, which do not include replacement doctors, highlight a drop of 31%.
Several explanations are put forward by the City: “unreplaced retirements (4 in 2024) due to lack of buyers of isolated practices or in one of the priority districts of the city”, “the specialization of nine general practitioners (sports, allergist, gynecologists).
The happiness of some making the misfortune of others, five practitioners left Pau for the new and accessible health centers which have emerged in the urban area (Lons pole Ossau, Billère, Aressy, Bizanos). At the same time, young graduates have a preference for replacement status. Age is obviously a worrying issue since 59.2% of Pau doctors are over 55 years old in 2023: 42% are even over 60 years old.
Deficit in Zaragoza
The situations vary depending on the districts of Pau: in Zaragoza, the shortage of doctors is felt after three retirements. The north and east of the town “do not offer access to sufficient care” established the City. Home visits are difficult there. This is probably not unrelated to the sharp increase in SOS doctor consultations: 11 general practitioners take turns in the emergency medical service.
Finally, the community calculated that as of June 30, 2024, “11.6% of the population over 17 years old does not have a treating doctor, or around 7,400 people including more than 610 aged over 70 years old.
However, Pau is not considered a medical desert, says the municipality, which relies on an indicator: localized potential accessibility which measures the spatial adequacy between the supply and demand for primary care. In Pau, this indicator is higher than the national average.
Controversy in municipal council
The subject of the lack of practitioners in Pau and the City’s response arose on Monday, December 16 during the already famous municipal council chaired by Mayor-Prime Minister François Bayrou.
Opposition MP Sylvie Gibergues, in fact, considered that the health center project was “too late and largely insufficient” to cover “urgent” needs. Citing overestimated figures for medical presence (“142 general practitioners would be needed, there are only 74”), she estimated that there was a shortage of “68 general practitioners in Pau to be in line with the department’s average, 46 more to reach the national average.
François Bayrou reacted: “You have just made a plea for doctors in the city center, we are bringing doctors back to the city center; you say that they no longer want to work alone, we have a group practice. And I add that it doesn’t cost the City a penny! Your reasoning is inconsistent. »
Then his deputy Jean Lacoste, a doctor by trade, said: “We have a severe shortage of doctors, that’s a fact. But you are mixing everything up, this is not our fault. However, it is not one health center, but two which we have facilitated the installation of – with Casau, to the north of the city, which has between 30 and 40 health professionals. Of course it’s not enough! But if we hadn’t done anything, you would have blamed us. We are able to reverse the trend of doctors leaving the city. Given the growing attractiveness of Pau in all areas, I do not despair that this installation of a health center will be contagious…”
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