The authorities' call for a "sacred union" of health professionals, in the hope of "relieving" hospitals overwhelmed by the "triple epidemic" of Covid, bronchiolitis and influenza, did not make "Doctors for tomorrow".

This young collective, created at the end of the summer, had a bang on December 1 and 2: its slogan of closing medical practices led to a drop in activity of around 30% among GPs, according to Health Insurance.

A new strike was then already announced between Christmas and New Year's Day.

The appeal has since been maintained, with the support of several unions (UFML, FMF, SML, Young Doctors).

“This is the ultimate cry of alarm from liberal doctors in the face of the collapse of the health system as a whole”, declared Noëlle Cariclet Monday on franceinfo.

Spokesperson for "Doctors for tomorrow", this psychiatrist from the Ile-de-France deplored that practitioners are "forced to close their offices to be heard".

His colleague Christelle Audigier, Lyon general practitioner and founder of the collective, however predicts that the mobilization "will be a little less, but despite everything substantial", while projecting towards a national demonstration planned in Paris on January 5.

The central demand remains the doubling of the basic consultation fee (from 25 to 50 euros) to create a "shock of attractiveness" towards city medicine in dire need of staff, crushed by administrative tasks and which does not attract more young people.

Doctors' organizations are also concerned about their freedom of establishment, challenged by proposed medical desert laws, and fear that other caregivers may be allowed to prescribe, including advanced practice nurses (APNs). .

This strike also falls in the middle of negotiations with the Health Insurance, for an agreement for the next five years with the profession.

Some take the opportunity to raise the stakes, such as the UFML which estimated Monday in a press release that "the investment must be up to the need", or "6 to 10 billion per year".

But the main unions (MG France, CSMF, Avenir Spé) consider that the open discussions this fall have produced "advances" and do not call for the cabinets to be closed during the holidays.

The Minister of Health, François Braun, hailed their "responsibility", given the "critical situation" of hospital emergencies.

“It seems to me a very bad time not to respond to the healthcare needs of the population”, argued the director general of the Regional Health Agency (ARS) Île-de-France, Amélie Verdier, who as the other ARS will be able to requisition strikers to provide night and weekend duty.

© 2022 AFP