A piece of plaster stuck to the mouth, one knee on the ground, the stethoscope hanging from the neck: a hundred health workers from all over the department wanted to brand the spirits last night, carrying out a symbolic action in front of the prefecture of Eure-et- Loir, in Chartres. At 18, while the bells of the cathedral are ringing, the participants stop.
“We are demonstrating quietly so as not to wake up those who have been doing nothing for many years”, says a doctor, before inviting colleagues to “respect a minute of silence for the death of general medicine, which is in mourning”. After freezing, to illustrate their “suffering”, the carers place the professional plate of their studio on the ground, which they had taken care to unscrew.
The meeting, organized by the Union of Doctors of Eure-et-Loir, a collective of general practitioners created ten days ago, comes a few hours after the holding of an exchange meeting organized by the prefect of Eure-et-Loir, at a context of tensions affecting medicine, both city and hospital, in the Eure-et-Loir.
“I have 1,800 patients. I cannot take new ones because my days cannot be extended. Administrative tasks occupy a lot of my time. It’s not normal, ”says 38-year-old Alexandre Baussant, a general practitioner in Voves for eight years.
“I’m here because I want us to finally be heard. »
This young doctor discusses his practice conditions with a colleague who will retire at the end of the year. Chartres resident Joëlle Winisdorffer explains that she has seen the situation worsen in recent years. “There were four of us in the cabinet and now there are only two of us. I probably won’t have a successor, even though I’m a training supervisor. It’s hard to tell myself that I will let my patients go at the end of the year, ”this general practitioner worries.
Health meeting in Chartres: what proposals to defuse the doctors’ crisis?
Exhaustion and anger
A doctor from Lucé recounts her discomfort when she has to arrange for a stay at the medical care center in Chartres, located on the premises of the Louis-Pasteur hospital. “It’s the medical danger. We don’t have time to examine people. We should be taking forty patients in four hours. I had never seen it before”, testifies the general practitioner, who explains that he exercised the right of withdrawal for the first time, on Sunday 1 January, “for safety reasons”.
A nurse from the Chartres hospital, Marie Marié has come to support the movement. “Obviously, this lack of doctors also impacts us as nurses, as the business then affects us,” she laments.
“In the hospital we try to relieve as much as possible, but the situation is very complicated. We simply want to work and ensure that patients can benefit from decent care. »
A lack of caregivers that also has a knock-on effect on other health professionals, such as medical secretaries. “As medical secretaries, we are on the front line. Sometimes I am insulted by patients who tell me they are left to die,” explains Céline Boukandoul. “I’ve only been doing this job for a year, but I didn’t think it would go like this. I no longer sleep at night. »
A little further on, among the hundred people present, Amélie Ricois, a general practitioner in La Loupe since 2016, expresses her tiredness. “We can’t meet the patients’ requests, we can’t continue in these conditions any longer,” she says. The carer, who intends to exercise her right to strike this Sunday, is even thinking of suspending her medicines. “I just want to change jobs. I’m looking for a way to retrain myself even though, sadly, I love what I do…”
Helene Bonnet and Laura Alliche
