It was “more than a year” that Daniel hadn’t set foot in an ophthalmologist. If he came to this office in Thionville (Moselle), Wednesday February 2, it is because his practitioner has retired. But already, when he was in exercise, you had to wait “three or four months” to get a date, he says. The lack of ophthalmologists does not affect him alone: according to the Rassemblement des opticiens de France (ROF), 25 million French people live in visual medical deserts and 33% of the inhabitants of the Grand Est region wait at least six months for have a meeting.
In the office where Daniel went, the exam boxes are all occupied. Inside one of them, doctor Cyrille Putz examines a patient: “We’re here to see if it’s damaging your optic nerve”, he explains to her. In total, he will see “one hundred” of patients in his working day. “It’s enormous”, he concedes. To be able to receive so many people in one day, he had to surround himself with a team: three secretaries, an optician, a nurse and an orthoptist.
In order not to refuse new patients, who would be deprived of follow-up because their practitioner closed the practice, a strategy had to be found. “We have limited our appointment time. I do not give appointments beyond three monthsexplains Cyrille Putz. Every day, slots become available. So we can take on new patients, but people also have to agree to see the doctor for less time.” Indeed, the ophthalmologist can in this system only devote “five to six minutes for each patient”.
In order to overcome the shortage of ophthalmologists, the public authorities have increased the number of ophthalmologists in training. But, while they are forming, retirements follow one another and create a vacuum. “In the Amnéville sector, since January 1, there are none left”warns Frédéric Tinten, an optician who is based in this city, right next to an ophthalmologist who has just retired. “We went from seven professionals to zero in twenty years”, deplores the one who also has shops in Florange and Thionville. The area has become a medical wasteland.
Faced with this difficult health context, the Rassemblement des opticiens de France has launched a poster campaign, particularly visible at the entrance to Thionville, to facilitate access to care in Moselle. Opticians are offering to pay for certain acts, which could relieve the overworked ophthalmologists in the region. “Firstly, most customers do not know the current legislation. We are lucky to be able to renew glasses and contact lenses”, explains Frédéric Tinten. A measure still unknown according to him.
According to the optician, his profession can even go further. “We can offer teleconsultation acts directly in the store with the agreement of an ophthalmologist.” Then, the optician can correct and modify the correction of the glasses of the customers. “We have the training tohe assures. It would therefore be necessary to reorganize the legal framework so that the prescription is valid longer and that the sight can be checked. These solutions are compiled in a petition put online by the ROF to facilitate access to vision care.