Doctors strike

[hughnique]

I am trying to get OH another RDV at the doc's but all I am getting is a recorded message to say they are closed indefinitely because of it, the strike I thought it was only for last Friday 13th?

[Blaze]

@hughnique It seems to be a decision each practice makes. The last time the généralistes went on strike, our cabinet refused but this time they have closed. I don't know whether it was just the Friday, but some cabinets are certainly going on longer.

We fully support our cabinet, knowing the hours they work and that the rate charged hasn't changed for years. When we first came to France, a RDV with the généraliste was half an hour on average. This average has gone down to 10 minutes. Despite Medecine being one of the most solicited university subjects, there are not enough young doctors to replace those retiring or dying off. Many young doctors today don't want the long hours and the traditional village doctor who was available 24/24 is a dying breed.

[niemeyjt]

And, like the UK with Australia, better pay is available elsewhere.

[hughnique]

One of those services you take for granted until it is unavailable, I am a bit annoyed as his parting words to us last Tuesday were come back after the seven day course of tablets. Surely he must have known they were going to be on strike. Our cabinet seems a bit lacking where the receptionist is concerned, it seems to be a bit hit and miss whether or not you get an answer, when phoning.

[Lori]

Our cabinet seems a bit lacking where the receptionist is concerned, it seems to be a bit hit and miss whether or not you get an answer, when phoning.

Similar here. Just keep trying. So, the message says they are closed and it does not offer a date when they will reopen? Frustrating. If the office is nearby, I'd pop over (outside of lunch time) to see if further info might be posted on the front door - or - if perhaps someone is there.

[hughnique]

It is about 18km, we had a job changing to him, our old doctor, as Blaze will confirm, operated out of his house in Mouliherne, he was a bit like a water tap, hot one minute cold the next, we had a few issues with him and bearing in mind that he had been retiring for the past 15 years, we decided to seek an alternative before the mass exodus occurred, when he finally gave up. We have a Pole de Sante not 2 minutes up the road from us and thought that would be much better, but none of the half a dozen doctors practicing there would accept us, stating that, we already had a doctor wait until he retires. My father in law managed to get in there when he came over, but when he sadly passed away we asked his doctor and she said exactly the same, so if you already have a doc, but have issues, you can't get in at that place.

[Blaze]

Our cabinet seems a bit lacking where the receptionist is concerned, it seems to be a bit hit and miss whether or not you get an answer, when phoning.

Similar here.

If your cabinets are anything like ours, the receptionist is always busy : answering the phone, paperwork, filing or anything else the doctors want her to do. She's always helpful, never abrupt. It's not easy to recruit receptionists, not everyone wants part-time work and the practice can't afford to employ someone full time (as much the fault of the employment system as anything else).
I've sometimes gone up there to make an appointment as telephoning can be a long wait ...

@hughnique I changed from him to a wonderful doc in Longué because of his unreliability. I was fortunate to be accepted (he didn't accept everyone, wouldn't do house calls, too far) and he did all the paperwork.

[MAD87]

It's a very big problem here - I've no idea what the situation is like in the UK now, apart from what I've read.
My daughter has been trying to recruit an extra nephrologist for her dialysis centre for years - any nationality - but no one seems to want to be a kidney specialist these days (too hard, hours too long, patients too ill) so she and her 3 colleagues have to work even more - how much more than 60-70 hours / week can you work with seriously sick patients? Same applies with nurses, hence all the Spanish recruits in southerrn France.

Not very helpful for patients! So time to overhaul the health system and remove the finger from the hole in the dyke.

[Blaze]

I had some kiné sessions recently following a thumb operation - absolutely brilliant. The young kiné, a remplaçant from Nantes, said that because so many people were doing kiné, there would probably be a surplus of kinés in 5 to 10 years time. He said that he'd already noticed that osteopaths were complaining of not having enough patients - too many osteopaths or the fact that they are still not always recognised as conventionnés ?

There is huge competition for ophthalmology and related subjects (but not opticians) and we know people who've been turned away because the list for the concours was too long.

It would seem that many of today's youngsters have grown up with the expectation of working 9 - 5, 5 days a week and being surprised to find that the reality is not quite that.

My very young hand surgeon had a 10 minute slot for me a couple of weeks ago, just a final check up, and he showed me his timetable for the afternoon : unbelievable with consultations and pansements. They deserve every bit of their hard-earned cash. He also told me that number three child had just been born and nights weren't always easy ...

[niemeyjt]

My daughter has been trying to recruit an extra nephrologist for her dialysis centre for years - any nationality - but no one seems to want to be a kidney specialist these days (too hard, hours too long, patients too ill) so she and her 3 colleagues have to work even more - how much more than 60-70 hours / week can you work with seriously sick patients? Same applies with nurses, hence all the Spanish recruits in southerrn France.

But what is she paying compared to other places? Is it a competitive package?

I believe the populations in both UK and France are increasing thus more staff are required just to stand still - politicians of all ilks bandy around statements like "we are spending x% more per year on health" when the real statistic we should be considering is how much spent per patient per year - a figure I suspect is not so rosy.