Liberal doctors: all unions call for strike starting October 13

Joined on Monday by the Confederation of French Medical Unions (CSMF), all the unions representing private doctors are now calling for a strike from October 13, for the most part in an “unlimited” manner, demanding in particular an increase in the price of consultations. The CSMF, one of the major unions in the sector, “calls on all private doctors, general practitioners and specialists to massively follow this indefinite strike movement and to cancel their medical activity,” it wrote in a press release published Monday. The government must “invest to make these professions attractive,” she argues.

After the failure of conventional negotiations with Health Insurance last winter, doctors still protested against an arbitration settlement which set the prices for consultations at 26.50 euros for general practitioners and 31.50 euros for specialists, i.e. an increase of 1.50 euros. They demand the immediate resumption of discussions and an “ambitious” revaluation. They charge, depending on the organization, between 30 and 50 euros for the basic consultation.

Also read: A Vendée doctor summoned by the Council of the Order for having issued 89 false health passes

“We are warning the government about the extreme tension in the profession,” Jean-Christophe Nogrette, deputy secretary general of the main general practitioner organization, MG France, warned on September 12, which is currently calling for a strike. 'one day, "renewable". The four other representative unions launched their appeal in June. For the Federation of Doctors of France (FMF), it is a “renewable strike”, president Patricia Lefébure told AFP on Monday. But the president of Avenir Spé, Patrick Gasser, speaks of an “unlimited cessation of activity”, just like the SML or the UFML-S.

Doctors are also up in arms against the bill from MP Frédéric Valletoux (Horizons) aimed at “improving access to care through the territorial commitment of professionals”. Many fear that this text will carry the seeds of new obligations for private practitioners in terms of “permanent care”, that is to say in particular on-call duty. All summer, they also shouted their “indignation” at a large campaign of controls of more than a thousand practitioners, deemed “too prescriptive” of sick leave.

The inter-union (CFDT, CGT, FO, CFTC, CFE-CGC, Unsa, Solidaires, FSU) which had led the protest against the pension reform also chose the same date of October 13 for its day of inter-professional mobilization. She calls in particular for an increase in salaries and pensions, and equality between women and men.