The deputies rejected, this Wednesday, June 14, the Garot amendment which wanted to establish greater regulation for doctors. This amendment received 127 “for” votes and the “against” received 168 votes. The Renaissance group (presidential majority) and some of its allies therefore prevailed against a heterogeneous “transpartisan” coalition which called for more regulation of doctors to fight against medical deserts.
“Parliamentary democracy has won”, welcomed the Minister of Health, François Braun, after a rather stormy debate, late Wednesday afternoon. The amendment of PS deputy Guillaume Garot (Mayenne), supported by 205 parliamentarians, proposed that, in areas overstaffed with doctors, new facilities could not be done except in the event of retirement. His goal was to encourage young doctors to settle instead in rural areas, medically under-endowed.
A point of view shared by the rapporteur of the bill, Frédéric Valletoux (Horizons, Seine-et-Marne): “The truth is that we lack doctors everywhere. What message are we going to send to young doctors who are settling in with this coercion? They are in no way responsible for the mistakes of the past. »
Conversely, the Green MP Delphine Batho (Deux-Sèvres) felt that it was necessary “to take into account the great diversity of people who support this amendment”. “This is proof of the urgency. We must tell our fellow citizens that politics is for something. »
MP Nupes Nicolas Sansu (Cher) for his part criticized the Minister of Health, saying: “Stop saying that with this amendment we are going to get angry with the doctors. In reality, this government is already angry with them. The doctors’ unions did not want to sign your conventional agreement on the revaluation of tariffs.
But the majority chose to say no to this earthquake. This amendment rejected, the government can breathe – a little – because a major part of the medical profession was opposed to it. But there remains the very real problem of medical deserts, which worries the French.