Thousands of liberal doctors demonstrated, Tuesday in Paris, against a reform law that allows other health professionals, including nurses, to perform certain acts of health care without prior consultation of a doctor, said French news outlets.
Waving banners reading “All together against contempt”, more than 10,000 people, according to the organizers (4,500 according to the police), marched from the Ministry of Health, in the seventh district of Paris, to the Pantheon.
Some unions of physicians called for an increase in the basic consultation fee, currently 25 euros.
The Health Insurance proposed 26.50 euros, however, the unions is expecting no less than 30 euros.
According to the Health Insurance, an increase of 1.50 euros already represents 500 million euros, or 7,000 euros of additional fees per year and doctor.
The Health Insurance said it is ready to go further, “but on a give-and-take basis”, with doctors committing to “taking on more patients, doing on-call duty, and providing unscheduled care”.
The reform, which aims to respond to the severe shortage of doctors in neglected regions, allows patients to benefit from the medical care of certain nurses, physiotherapists, or speech therapists, without going through a doctor. Nurses could thus treat wounds or prescribe certain medications.