Consultation at 30 euros, medical deserts, crisis in the emergency room… Frédéric Valletoux’s 8:30 a.m. franceinfo

The Minister Delegate in charge of health and prevention was the guest of “8h30 franceinfo”, Friday February 16.

Frédéric Valletoux, the delegate minister in charge of health and prevention, was the guest of “8h30 franceinfo”, Friday February 16. Consultation for 30 euros, medical deserts, crisis in the emergency room… He answered questions from Agathe Lambret and Jules de Kiss.

Consultation with the doctor for 30 euros: “I hope it will be successful as quickly as possible”

Frédéric Valletoux said he was in favor of increasing the consultation from 26.5 euros to 30 euros, as proposed by Health Insurance, Thursday February 8, and demanded for a long time by several doctors’ unions.

“I hope it comes to fruition as soon as possible” declared the minister, because behind it, there is also the question of how we better finance complex consultants. How we better revalorize the specialties where we suffer“, evoking in particular pediatrics and psychiatry. He judges this revaluation of consultation in sector 1 “legitimate“.”I think there is a sense of responsibility on all sides, and particularly among doctors’ unions.“, he adds.

Asked about the question of the compensation that private doctors should provide to obtain this revaluation, he said:in any contract, everyone takes a step towards the other“Night guards, abolished in 2002, are particularly at the heart of the debate, but according to the minister”not everyone sees it as a threat“, since “already 40% of private doctors participate in on-call hours, after 8 p.m., on weekends and public holidays“.

Medical deserts: “We don’t solve difficulties with the snap of a finger”

Some 30% of French people live in a medical desert and nearly 90% of French territory is affected by the problem. Questioned on this subject, Frédéric Valletoux believes that he knows “the difficulty of doctors who keep the system at arm’s length by spending long hours on it.”

Former president of the French Hospital Federation ensures, however, that we “don’t start from scratch, there are things that have been done. The removal of the numerus clausus now allowsui to have 20% more second-year medical students than in 2019“, praises the Minister responsible for Health, who recognizes that the difficulties will not be resolved in “with a snap of a finger.“

Emergencies: “There are French people who don’t need to go there”

In recent months, several deaths in the emergency room have raised awareness about the state of the hospital. This is the case of Lucas, 25, who died in the emergency room in Hyères (Var), after several hours spent on a stretcher, end of September. “You can die in hospital, concedes Frédéric Valletoux, questioned on this subject, who recalls that an investigation is underway. The Minister for Health recalls on franceinfo that the emergency department is the one which has seen its attendance increase the most in recent years. “There were 10 million emergency room visits around ten years ago, we are at more than 21 million Today, assures Frédéric Valletoux, who believes that some “French don’t need to go there“.

“We must continue to work to find solutions territory by territory which will make it possible to better take care of people who do not need to go to the emergency room but who go there because they are certain to find a doctor there.“, continues the new minister.

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Watch the entire 8:30 a.m. franceinfo broadcast on Friday February 16, 2024: