More than 6,000 general practitioners are missings in rural living areas to achieve the desirable goal of one general practitioner per 1,000 inhabitants. In these territories, a general practitioner covers an average of 30 km², compared to 5 km² in urban living areas. The study proposes a new geographical approach to this health issue, by calculating the density of doctors per km² and not in relation to the number of inhabitants, as is usually the case. Results : 63% of rural living areas (2 out of 3) lack general practitioners. From one department to another, the number of specialists also varies greatly, according to the study. While the density is high in the large cities and on the Mediterranean coast, the shortage of specialist doctors is particularly glaring in the departments of the center or the west of the country in particular. Among the 11 specialties analyzed during the survey, the gap is particularly marked in anesthesia, gynecology, pediatrics and psychiatry. AMRF brought together 35 organizations to develop four major proposals to improve access to healthcare in rural areas. The first step is to diversify the internship locations for health students, by improving housing and transport assistance to make the diversification of internship locations compulsory in the long term. It is also necessary, according to the AMRF, to set up coordinated care teams around the patient. The third measure aims to facilitate the installation of health professionals by centralizing financial aid and administrative support at departmental level. Finally, according to the recommendations of the report, it is essential to facilitate collaboration between community medicine and hospitals, particularly in under-resourced areas. “What is happening to us, in our rural territories, is spreading throughout the territory, so the job has not been done.” deplores Richard Chamaret, the mayor of Méral and president of the AMRF in Mayenne.
Sell our territories
Richard Chamaret is very upset with the State services which, according to him, did not listen enough to local elected officials: “One of the proposals made by some of my colleagues is to offer interns one more year and have them do internships in our territories. But one year is a bit tight. we must also sell our territories, all the animation. We highlight everything that we do in our rural territories with a good quality of life. Because for 30 years, the state services have not been very good. So at some point you have to listen a little bit to what’s being done on the pitch.”
“We have the congress of rural mayors which will take place in the Dordogne this weekend. Four ministers are traveling, that says it all” Richard Chamaret the mayor of Méral and president of the Association of rural mayors of Mayenne
The association of citizens against medical deserts is organizing a public meeting on Saturday October 1 at 2:30 p.m., Quatre-Vents room, in Évron. “We declare a state of emergency” is the theme of this meeting.