The text has been removed from the website of the Medical Urgences of Paris (UMP). But he had time to arouse very strong emotions. It must be said that the message was alarming to say the least. Here it is: “Taking into account the difficulties of parking in the central districts and the lack of indulgence of the City of Paris concerning the intervention vehicles of our doctors, we are no longer able to ensure our mission of permanence of care in the center of Paris. ”
The UMPs are made up of a team of 65 doctors, who intervene every day, regardless of the time, for emergency visits in the capital. With in the end, according to their figures, 200,000 calls and 90,000 visits per year.
Behind this announcement, the anger of Fabrice Attali, their manager: “With the modification of the city’s policy – multiple works, the decrease in the number of parking spaces – our working conditions have become more and more difficult.” Between traffic jams, loss of time to find a parking space, repeated reports …
“But there was in fact never a question of no longer intervening in the center, tempers Fabrice Attali. The reality is that we were no longer able to do this on an emergency basis. We therefore refused certain missions. We continued to visit the patient, but at staggered times, at the end of the day for example, during the most fluid traffic hours. ”
Bus lanes will also be authorized
If the doctor speaks in the past tense, it is because he has just obtained satisfaction from the City. Who has decided to work again on the accessibility of its center to health professionals, whether they are the UMP, SOS Médecins …
“We had already granted them the right to park in the parking spaces, but the situation was not yet satisfactory, confirms Ariel Weil, mayor (PS) of Paris center (merger of the Ie, IIe, IIIe and IVe arrondissements) . From now on, they will be able to stop in prohibited places, such as at the corner of a street, as long as their presence does not become dangerous. For example, parking on a passage will still not be allowed. ”
The caregivers also obtained the possibility of circulating in the bus lanes. “However, everyone will have to work on their own. We will have to remind our agents of these exceptions. The police headquarters, which manages video tagging, will have to be vigilant not to impose fines by mistake. And caregivers must make it easier to identify their vehicles, which is not always the case. ”
“I have lost a dozen doctors, tired of the situation”
Fabrice Attali therefore hopes that his teams will once again be able to intervene with ease in the heart of the capital. But it’s going to take time, he thinks. I lost a dozen doctors, tired of the situation. And I am waiting to see the efficiency of the measures announced. “
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More broadly, the municipal opposition sees this story as the translation of a policy disconnected from reality. “The City of Paris has a very binary vision of the issue. For them it is No more car, everything for the bike, critic Aurélien Véron, elected (LR) of Paris center. It is the death of businesses, such as antique dealers or art galleries, present in our district. And now doctors who no longer intervene. A city like Paris must have major roads, such as rue de Rivoli, accessible to cars, so that they can park in underground car parks. But for that to happen, a comprehensive traffic plan is needed… ”
A controversy in which Fabrice Attali does not want to enter, who has “nothing against the policy of the City”, but sweeps Ariel Weil: “We circulate better today in our districts than a few years ago, or same as a few months since we changed the rue de Rivoli. Our pedestrianization project in central Paris is precisely aimed at eliminating through traffic, in order to improve utility traffic. It is to protect that of the police, cleaning vehicles, public transport, health partners, residents and traders. ”
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