Thursday, 7 July 2016

Cost of consulting GPs set to rise

The Assurance Maladie, which oversees the funding of the French health service, is negotiating a new 5 year contract with the medical professions. As part of this they are proposing that a consultation with your GP should cost 25 euros, rather than 23 euros as at present. The rise will be staged over 2 years, 1 euro at each of April 2017 and April 2018.
So far the GP's union has rejected this as inadequate, as there has been no increase since 2011. One young GP we spoke to said he thought the "payment at the time of consultation or treatment" discouraged patients from attending with minor ailments which they could treat themselves.
The relative ease of getting a GP appointment may support that, but perhaps it is that France has nearly double the numbers of GPs compared to the UK.
comments to taglines82@gmail.com