Medical deserts: MPs adopt a text to regulate the establishment of doctors, against the government's advice
By The New Obs with AFP
Published on
Socialist MP Guillaume Garot, who initiated the bill to regulate the establishment of doctors, at the National Assembly in Paris on January 23, 2025. OLIVIER JUSZCZAK/SIPA
On the evening of Wednesday, May 7, the National Assembly adopted at first reading a text to regulate the establishment of doctors to combat "medical deserts" , supported by a cross-party group of more than 250 deputies, against the advice of the government and many doctors.
This group, ranging from La France insoumise to almost a third of the Les Républicains (LR) group, was launched in 2022 by the socialist deputy Guillaume Garot with the slogan "when medical deserts advance, it is the Republic that retreats" .
"This evening, we have put a little bit of the Republic back into our collective organization, this Republic which must watch over each of us, whoever we are, wherever we live, because our health cannot depend on our postal code," declared the MP, rapporteur of the proposed law, after the vote.
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It was adopted by a landslide vote of 99 to 9. The National Rally abstained. This text nonetheless remains inflammatory for the profession, and the debates in the Assembly were intense, particularly during the examination in early April of its key article, which regulates the establishment of doctors in the country.
A casus belli for many doctorsBefore setting up, private or salaried doctors would have to seek approval from the Regional Health Agency. This would be a legal requirement in an area lacking healthcare professionals, but in more well-supplied areas, doctors would only be able to set up when another doctor leaves.
A "territorial indicator" taking into account "medical time available per patient" and "the demographic, health and socio-economic situation of the territory" , would be used to target regulation, which would potentially only concern "13% of the territory" according to its supporters. A "cornerstone of any truly effective policy" , insists the cross-party group.
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