“It can’t continue like this.” The general practitioners at the Gast medical office, in the Maurepas district, decided to bang their fists on the table. This Monday, October 14, 2024, a strike was declared in order to warn of the increase in incivility and aggressive behavior shown by certain patients against them.
“We are subject to more and more incivility and we are regularly insulted,” says a practitioner from this practice made up exclusively of women. “Worse, we had to face death threats last week. We sometimes deal with aggressive people who will become threatening if we don’t give them the medicine they are expecting.”
On strike
Since this morning, patients who come to the office find the door closed and discover the message “Stop threats” which has been posted outside. “The door remains closed but we still provide a few consultations in dribs and drabs,” specifies a doctor.
In this sensitive district of Rennes, the health establishment welcomes many desocialized patients or those in great difficulty every day. “We especially do not want to stigmatize the neighborhood population through this action. We must remember that we treat more than 5,000 people here and things are going well for the vast majority, but today, we sometimes come to work with a lump in our stomach. We are not going to live in fear.”
In recent days, the town hall has contacted the cabinet to discuss their difficulties. “They’re not going to put a security guard in front of us, but it would be good if there was awareness. The discomfort must not grow to the point that we decide to leave.”
