• The North is one of the departments most affected by the problem of medical deserts.

  • One of the causes of the tensions in the supply of care is, according to the Departmental Order of Physicians, medical appointments not honored.

  • A local study shows that on average 7.6% of consultation slots are lost in this way.

The North is one of the departments most affected by a deficit in the supply of care, a phenomenon also called medical deserts.

“None of the territories that make it up is spared.

Gynecologists, pediatricians, general practitioners… All specialties are concerned”, assured, last December, the socialist senator from the North, Martine Filleul, facing the Minister of Health.

Admittedly, we can deplore that practitioners shun rural areas, but this is not the only explanation.

According to the departmental council of the Order of Physicians of the North, medical appointments not honored, "rabbits", are another.



It is a fact that patients are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain a consultation with a doctor, whatever the specialty.

The Order of Physicians of the North has therefore commissioned a study among practitioners to establish a diagnosis and try to find a solution.

Of the 168 doctors questioned, the vast majority admitted to being confronted with a more or less substantial number of appointments where the patients did not come, between 2 and 7 rabbits posed each week.

“This represents an average of 7.60% of slots lost, all specialties combined,” laments Dr. Franck Roussel, secretary general of the departmental council of the Order of Physicians of the North.

A question of “civility and selfishness”

So, no, it's not about spontaneous cures.

"It is the fact of people who make several appointments, mainly on the internet, and who go to the first without canceling the others", specifies Dr Roussel.

These lost slots are sometimes reallocated, but 85% are lost.

“It's a question of civic-mindedness and selfishness that penalizes other patients above all.

The doctor, on the other hand, loses an average of two hours a week,” he continues.

According to the order, eradicating the rabbits could partly solve the problem of the supply of care and, in particular, the overcrowding of emergencies.

And among the proposed solutions, two are particularly acclaimed by the doctors who responded to the study: raising patient awareness and blacklisting repeat offenders.

"We could also imagine taking a deposit when making appointments or a deduction from future reimbursements", imagines Dr. Roussel.

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  • Health

  • Hauts-de-France

  • Doctor

  • Medical Deserts

  • Care