On the ground floor of the Maison de la solidarité in the center of Mazingarbe, an office has been transformed into a medical office. Doctor Maxime Lestavel welcomed his first patients there. He is one of three young doctors who alternately occupy this ephemeral practice. “I finished my studies in 2021 and I didn’t want to settle down right away“, explains the doctor who now divides his time between replacements and this new equipment.
In this city of 8,000 inhabitants, there are only three generalists left after several retirements. Next June, there will be only two. This firm is therefore a new solution to overcome the shortcomings suffered by the population. The principle is simple: the town hall, in partnership with the CPTS of Liévin, provides the equipment, and the doctors only have to come and consult. “Nothing is ours here, we are provided with everything and it is very comfortable“, says Maxime.
“It is very good !“, launches enthusiastically Laura, a young mother who came with her 3-year-old son. Her doctor retired six months ago, since then she has not been able to find a doctor.
It’s hard to find a doctor here. Otherwise, you have to go further, there are significant delays.
This ephemeral practice, which opened almost a month ago, is very popular, with more than 30 appointments per day. The main interest is to fight against breaks in care. “There are patients who are medically lost to sight, who have not seen a doctor for 6 months or a year”, observes Maxime Lestavel, “these patients need to be taken in hand“.
An unprecedented solution, a “godsend” for the town hall
It is also a good solution for these young doctors who are setting up. “We come out of 9 to 10 years of study, and settling down is a lot of responsibility, so it allows us to get our hands dirty and see different practices“, recognizes Doctor Lestavel, who did not hesitate to participate in this project proposed by the town hall. For elected officials, this solution is a “bargain“. A word used by Virginie Martel, health assistant, at the origin of this project. “At the start, we noted the lack of doctors, then we discussed this idea with the CPTS of Liévin and in a few months, everything was ready.“, she says.
For this, it was necessary to obtain authorizations from the ARS and the order of doctors. “We had to move the lines, because it does not fit into the boxes“, advances the mayor of the city Laurent Poissant. The challenge is successful, and today many municipalities, which encounter the same difficulties, are interested in this idea. An idea that helps to fight against the vicious circle triggered by the medical desert. “We had a lot of patients from Mazingarbe who went to see other doctors elsewhere, so we lose patients, and then the doctors no longer want to settle down”, observes Laurent Poissant.
We meet the needs of the population of the city, but also of the surrounding towns.
Everyone is a winner in this idea. The town hall dreams of doing a double blow by recruiting one of these three young doctors. She recently bought the premises of a bank branch in the center of the village to install three doctors there. “If we could attract these young doctors to settle in the town just opposite, that would be ideal!“, loose Virginie Martel.