Lhe bill tabled by Stéphanie Rist (Renaissance) intended to develop direct access (i.e. access to certain professionals, such as advanced practice nurses, physiotherapists and speech therapists, without going through by a doctor) and to extend the skills of several paramedical professions, has been emptied of its initial content. It’s a shot in the dark.
The restriction of direct access only to coordinated exercise structures, which are few in number, will have no impact on access to care. This will make care pathways illegible for patients and create a breach of equality for users. Patients will not see any improvement. Similarly, the status of referent nurse disappeared with the withdrawal of the Valletoux bill. Let’s face it, the government, like the parliamentarians, is backing down.
However, according to projections by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, people over the age of 75 will represent 6.8 million people in 2023, and before the end of the current decade a third of the French population will be over 60 years old. The health tsunami that could overwhelm our health system has begun to unfold. Already, the aging of the population and the transformation of needs accentuate the difficulties of access to care linked to the crisis in hospital emergencies and medical deserts. More than six million patients do not have access to a treating doctor, of whom more than 600,000 are in long-term illness. Dealing with this situation represents a major challenge and a vital emergency for our country.
Refocus the medical resource
In recent years, allied health professionals have prepared to meet this challenge. Their level of training has been increased significantly. Despite this, their own skills are not fully mobilized, while they are able to meet many needs by often improving the speed of care at the right level. Similarly, the contribution of medical assistants, dental assistants, assistants in pharmacies, laboratory technicians can increase the number of treatments by improving the organization of the work of the medical professionals who employ them.
Aware of the situation and the potential offered by these professionals present throughout the territory, the President of the Republic called for more collective care for patients. Nothing is more obvious than the need to refocus medical resources, which have become scarce, on the most complex cases, by delegating everything that can be. The other health professions are ready for it.
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