An ophthalmologist launches a petition: she denounces the lack of colleagues in the province of Luxembourg. Over there, they are only 13 while there are currently 1,300 eye specialists in Belgium. A complicated situation, especially for the patients.
Mélanie Lampe receives a patient for an examination. The ophthalmologist regularly carries out essential checks for the vision of his patients, in particular for myopic children. In such cases, she is supposed to see them every 6 months. “Except that me, in my diary, the next appointment that I can offer them is in a year and a half. So finally I have to tell them: ‘Unfortunately, tomorrow your eyesight will go down and I can’t see you, I can’t save your eyesight’“, explains Melanie.
This situation is the consequence of the shortage of ophthalmologists in the province of Luxembourg. Today, Mélanie has more than 13,000 patients. It can therefore no longer receive new ones.
Fortunately for Nicolas, whom we meet in his office, he has been a patient for a year and a half. He still encounters difficulties. “It’s not easy to get an appointment. What has happened to me on several occasions is having to buy glasses without a prescription. Then the optician does a quick examination. It’s a bit tight… and then it doesn’t give me a medical certificate to be reimbursed“, specifies the patient.
Today, the province has 13 ophthalmologists for 300,000 inhabitants.
If nothing changes in 10 years, there will only be four left because of retirements.
“In 19 years, I am the only ophthalmologist to have settled in the whole province of Luxembourg. So I try to see further and say to myself ‘But what will happen to me?’. If we follow the Belgian average, there should be 29 ophthalmologists. Four is just impossible“, says Melanie.
The ophthalmologist has therefore launched a petition, already signed by 500 people. She puts forward a proposal: impose a location constraint on young graduate ophthalmologists “and gradually distribute doctors in these regions in shortage“, she specifies.
The province of Luxembourg is also in short supply of dentists, dermatologists and even general practitioners.