Medical Deserts: More than 1,500 local elected officials call on MPs to vote for the regulation of doctors' establishments

More than 1,500 local elected officials are calling on MPs to vote for the Garot bill to combat medical deserts , opposed by a section of the medical profession, highlighting the "strong expectations" of their fellow citizens, in a text published in La Tribune on Sunday.

On Tuesday, several thousand people, mainly medical students and interns, marched in France against the bill initiated by Mayenne MP Guillaume Garot (PS) and supported by a cross-party group (from LR to LFI) of more than 250 MPs, aimed at regulating the establishment of doctors .

In particular, it provides that in areas with the highest density of doctors, practitioners will have to wait for a colleague to retire before being able to set up there.

But for the local elected officials who signed an article in the weekly, "because it refuses to give up in the face of the emergency, because it enjoys broad support on the right, left and centre benches in Parliament, this text (editor's note: bill) must continue its parliamentary journey."

"Our fellow citizens' expectations are high: let's not disappoint them," they plead. "As grassroots elected officials, committed to the Republican promise of healthcare for all, we call on all members of parliament to vote for this essential law," they urge.

According to them, this proposed law "makes the regulation of the establishment of doctors, already applied to many health professions (...) the necessary lever of a policy to be carried out elsewhere on all fronts."

They cite in particular the "continuation of incentive schemes", "the improvement of working conditions in internships", the "development of internships in community medicine" and "support for communities in their local policies on access to care".

The government, hostile to this proposed law, lit a counter-fire by presenting its own plan to combat medical deserts, which was better received by private doctors.