France 2 is dedicating an exceptional evening to the problems facing the French medical system.
Medical deserts, overcrowded emergencies, vocations crisis… In hospitals as in surgeries, the French health sector is facing a structural crisis. A situation that worries and irritates Michel Cymes, who presents with Léa Salamé the program “Health in France: the state of emergency?”. On the eve of its release, Tuesday March 21 at 9:10 p.m. on France 2 and on france.tv, the famous doctor answers questions from franceinfo.
Franceinfo: How would you describe the state of the health system in France today?
Michael Cymes: I think the situation is unworthy of one of the richest countries in the world. It is incredible to think that we are among the countries that have a right of veto [au Conseil de sécurité des] United Nations, that our medicine has been considered the best in the world for decades, and that today we find ourselves with hundreds of thousands of people who cannot access a general practitioner despite having a chronic illness. (…) The situation is absolutely catastrophic, whether in the liberal sector, in the medical deserts, in the hospital, concerning the lack of vocations. It is incredible not to have anticipated what is happening today.
Could this crisis have been avoided?
If we had avoided taking such a stupid step as the numerus clausus [qui limite le nombre d’étudiants admis en deuxième année dans les filières médicales] in 1971, we would not be there. Was there no one, at the time, to draw a parallel between medical demography and demographic growth, which was predictable? Nobody to realize that many doctors, who need 10 years to be trained, would no longer be around when the population was going to grow?
Yet we knew at the time that life expectancy was increasing. We knew very well that people were going to live longer and longer, and that the French would therefore be more numerous. But we decided not to increase the number of doctors. Some politicians should explain what their reasoning was.
Emmanuel Macron abolished the numerus clausus in 2020. Do you think this is going in the right direction?
Yes, but you can remove anything you want, it still takes at least 10 years to train a doctor. So there are 10 years of urgency left. It is also necessary to succeed in making this sector of activity attractive, because the bleeding of nurses in the hospital, for example, is truly catastrophic. This requires a salary increase, but it’s not just that: these jobs must find meaning, that these nurses can spend time with each patient. This requires increasing the number of staff, because they can currently only do paperwork or quick care, without being able to show empathy towards patients.
How do you react to the reduction in the number of beds in the public hospital?
For budgetary reasons, the famous T2A, activity-based pricing, was introduced. This method of financing health establishments, which based on the measurement and evaluation of the effective activity of establishments, has screwed up a lot of things. You give a budget to a hospital, which does not have the means to pay the doctors. So we have to close beds. Because who is going to take care of the patients? There are not enough nurses and doctors!
This is the reason why we call on foreign doctors, who are paid less than their French colleagues.
Yes. If foreign doctors work in a hospital service, it is because they are competent. Even if their diplomas are not recognized in France, I don’t see why they would be paid less than the others. It’s completely illogical, this side: ‘You are a doctor, but as you come from Algeria, your degree is not recognized in France, you are paid less.’
Why is this show important to you?
Thanks to the documentary, which will be broadcast at the start of the program, we will have a rather precise and rather terrible inventory of the situation of the health system in France. But we will also discover that there are people who move, like this couple of general practitioners who still officiate in a so-called difficult suburb. We say to ourselves that there is still hope. On the set, through testimonials from doctors, nurses and patients directly concerned, and in the presence of the Minister of Health, François Braun, we will try to find solutions and move forward.
Facing the Minister of Health, which of your two hats (doctor and facilitator) will you favor?
My position is going to be tricky during the show. I am both co-host of the show and a doctor. But this is where the complementarity with Léa Salamé, who is a great political interviewer, and me, who lived in the hospital, will be important. I’ll try to be an unbiased interviewer, but I don’t have to be neutral. If ever things that are said shock me, I will say it.
The show “Health in France: the state of emergency?”, presented by Léa Salamé and Michel Cymes, is broadcast on Tuesday March 21 at 9:10 p.m. on France 2 and on france.tv.