“Over ten years, we have lost 3.5% of general practitioners”, warns the deputy general secretary of the MG France union

“Departures and the health needs of the population continue to increase, that’s the problem,” according to Christophe Nogrette.

“Over ten years, we have lost 3.5% of general practitioners”, alert Thursday December 7 on franceinfo Jean-Christophe Nogrette, deputy general secretary of the French union of general practitioners (MG France). In 2022, more than 2,300 general practitioners will be established in France, a figure up 70% in ten years, according to Health Insurance. But for Jean-Christophe Nogrette, these figures must be compared to those of departures, which are not compensated. “Departures and the health needs of the population continue to increase, that’s the problem”, regrets the doctor. In particular, he gives an example: “When I studied there were two million diabetics, today there are four million, and in a few years there will be five million.”

More and more general practitioners in “mixed activity”

And beyond the increase in needs, there is also what the trade unionist calls “diversification of activities”. “We have seen an increase in recent years in mixed activity, that is to say people who are self-employed and who also have shifts in nursing homes, in rest homes, even in hospitals”, lists Jean-Christophe Nogrette. Which means, among other things, that“we are still in great tension on the ground”according to him.

However, he recognizes that there has been an improvement in recent years, when “the numerus clausus, before being deleted, had been noted”which notably had the consequence of having “a little more general practitioners”. But he insists, “we are very far away”to have solved the problem, and he asks “find solutions”what “requires resources”.