After years of political struggle, French parliamentarians made significant progress in tackling the country’s problem of medical deserts by backing a motion to regulate where physicians can establish their practices. Led by Socialist MP Guillaume Garot, the proposal received cross-party support – from right-wing Republicans to the left France Unbowed (La France Insoumise, LFI) – and was opposed only by part of the Macronist camp and the far-right National Rally.
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The motion proposes that regional health agencies be granted the authority to approve physicians – both general practitioners and specialists – wishing to set up practice in a given area. If a territory meets the threshold for “acceptable care provision,” authorization would only be given if an existing physician leaves, for example through retirement. According to the proponents of the motion, this regulation would apply to just 13% of French territory: in the remaining 87%, considered to be underserved, authorizations would be granted automatically.
France has long struggled with medical desertification, marked by clinic closures and overwhelming workloads for health workers outside of well-equipped health centers. The crisis has overlapped with a waning interest among medical students in essential specialties such as general practice and occupational medicine – trends even government agencies have had to acknowledge in their reports.
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Critics of the motion, including Health Minister Yannick Neuder, described it as “coercive.” The minister argued that the doctor shortage should instead be addressed through expanded training and incentives to practice in less popular regions – measures already piloted in past years with limited success at best. “Coercion in no way solves the shortage of doctors,” Neuder said, echoing reactions from parts of the medical establishment. In the lead-up to the April 2 debate, he also suggested recruiting more international physicians and delaying the vote to allow for further consultations with the profession and the public.
But other lawmakers rejected these stalling tactics. “Don’t pit patients against doctors,” LFI MP Damien Maudet wrote on X. “This regulation will ease the burden on overworked physicians in medical deserts and ensure better care for patients. It’s a historic victory.”
The debate will resume in early May, when the National Assembly is expected to discuss related issues such as surcharges for patients without an assigned general practitioner and regulations around continuous care. While many challenges remain in reversing decades of market-driven health policies that left rural and working class areas behind, this initial victory offers hope for improvement.
People’s Health Dispatch is a fortnightly bulletin published by the People’s Health Movement and Peoples Dispatch. For more articles and subscription to People’s Health Dispatch, click here.
