This has been sensed since the beginning of the crisis, and it is today a confirmation given to us by the Radio France investigation cell. General practitioners paid a heavy price for the Covid-19.
SOS Doctors thus estimates the number of its doctors infected with the coronavirus in France at 16%. The Medical Association estimates that around 30 liberal practitioners have died in the country. Doctors accuse the Minister of Health for having betrayed his promise to equip them with FFP2 masks.
10,000 euros paid by local doctors to equip themselves
With us, in Indre-et-Loire, out of the 12 practitioners of SOS Doctors, none of them fell ill. But it is because these doctors decided to subscribe to buy their protective equipment themselves, as explained by Grégory Melchior, doctor, and boss of SOS Doctors in Tours.
We had FFP2 right away, it is clear that we are very lucky not to have been infected – Grégory Melchior, SOS Doctors
Over-gowns, overshoes, charlottes or even masks for almost 10,000 euros! The structure has ordered from early March, well before containment, and while the general practitioners were not yet provided with supplies by the State. “We had FFP2 right away, but we bought and paid a high price. We managed to find it for us and it is clear that we are very fortunate not to have been contaminated”.
Grégory Melchior, the boss of SOS Doctors in Tours, was asked if it was normal for doctors to pay to protect themselves. “This is a difficult debate. We are in a private environment. As a rule, we take care of this kind of equipment. But we have a Covid unit which is still active, we do screenings, _we are therefore moving from the private sector to a public service by making this Covid unit available. From there, it is logical that it is equipment that is taken care of by the health authorities_, which is the case now. “
It’s normal to invest to protect yourself. Now, who to do it at? It’s a choice. We did it because we wanted to protect ourselves – Grégory Melchior
According to the study of SOS Doctors at the national level, 16% of the 1,300 doctors grouped in its 63 associations have therefore been contaminated, including 20% in Paris. This is much more than the doctors of health establishments, hospitals in particular, who were affected up to 10%, according to the epidemiological point of Public Health France of May 19.
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