After Brigitte Bourguignon’s defeat in the legislative elections, François Braun succeeded her as Minister of Health and Prevention in the new government of Elisabeth Borne. A strategic position as the files have been piling up on the ministry’s table for weeks.
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Author of the “flash mission” requested by Emmanuel Macron on “unscheduled care”, the president of the association of emergency doctors Samu-Urgences de France (SUdF) was until now little known to the general public. Franceinfo returns to the three things to know about the new Minister of Health.
1He is an emergency physician
Before being appointed to the government, François Braun headed the emergency department of the CHR in Metz-Thionville. He had been there since June 2009, can we read on his LinkedIn profile. First as a hospital practitioner, then as head doctor for the emergency department for four years. François Braun first appeared in the media when he participated in the first transfers by train of patients with Covid-19 hospitalized in intensive care.
“He was not very present on the ground”told AFP Patricia Schneider, local manager of the SUD-Santé union, who remembers having it “especially seen in the Covid period, when it was necessary to organize patient transfers and there were cameras”. An absence which is also explained by his commitment to the Samu-Urgences de France association, of which he was the general secretary from 2001, then the president since 2014. A national function, therefore more exposed, which has enabled it to gain influence.
2He is close to Emmanuel Macron
François Braun did not come to government by chance. This pioneer of emergency medicine was indeed Emmanuel Macron’s health referent during the presidential campaign. “I found the project interesting”he justified at the microphone of France Bleu Lorraine in January 2022. “Although I don’t necessarily agree with everything that has been done.” Before being appointed to the ministry, he had already been chosen by the executive to carry out a month-long “flash mission” on emergencies.
On Friday July 1, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne had also taken up all of François Braun’s proposals to respond to the emergency crisis this summer. Among these “short-term responses”Ihe head of government repeated that it was necessary “to have the reflex of 15”the Samu number, “and not systematically come to the emergency room”.
“Emergencies can no longer be ‘open bar’. We can no longer serve everything.”
Francois Braunon June 9 during a congress of emergency physicians
This double cap of political adviser and association president has been criticized in particular. “I warned François that I was embarrassed that he kept his status as a trade unionist while working closely with the government”, confided for example Jean-François Cibien, president of the inter-union Action Hospital Practitioners (APH), in the columns of Marianne (paid article). For many, the two positions are incompatible. At the moment, we are walking on eggshells and being called ‘collaborators’ and ‘macronists’…”
3He divides among his peers
Francois Braun “knows this subject very well [les urgences]he has a calm and thoughtful character, he is not looking for buzz“Judge Christian Rabaud, infectious disease specialist at the Nancy University Hospital, interviewed by France 3 Grand Est. “He knows how to listen while remaining firm on his positions. He has the method to convince on key proposals that can offend certain professional categories”greets Agnès Ricard-Hibon, the head of the Samu in Val-d’Oise, member of Samu-Urgences de France, in Marianne.
“François Braun has always wanted to make his service work at all costs, regrets Pascal Pannetier, former psychiatrist in the emergency room of Metz-Thionville, in the same weekly. He repeated all over the media that there was a budget problem at the hospital. And at the same time, he was the first to operate a disorganized service, without taking into account the suffering of his colleagues, many of whom have been on sick leave due to overwork, or have simply left.
“For us, this appointment is a real provocation”, reacted Christophe Prudhomme, spokesperson for the Association of Emergency Physicians of France (AMUF), on franceinfo. “How can we trust this gentleman?”
“The proposals made by François Braun are catastrophic. He explains that we can close emergencies at night. He does not represent emergency physicians.”
Christophe Prudhomme, emergency physicianon franceinfo
Same story on the side of Patrick Pelloux. The president of the Association of emergency physicians of France is very opposed to the regulation of access to emergencies, one of the conclusions of the “flash mission” of François Braun. According to him, “by refusing access to emergencies, we are moving away from our public service mission”.