Three days to obtain an appointment with a general practitioner, seven days with a pediatrician, but twenty-five days for an ophthalmologist, thirty-six days with a dermatologist, forty-two days with the cardiologist… These figures, obtained from the Doctolib platform database, and used in a survey by the Jean Jaurès Foundation made public on Wednesday April 24, shed new light on access to care. A more contrasting image than one could expect and “less alarmist than patients’ feelings”according to the authors of the report, after years of worsening medical shortages.
The indicator used is that of the time taken to grant appointments observed on the platform in 2023, which can be compared with the two previous years. This median time is calculated on the scale of 70,000 self-employed health professionals who have subscribed to Doctolib services – or between 30% and 50% of self-employed doctors, according to the report – and relates to 200 million consultations booked on the platform. online form (including five million teleconsultations). A partial snapshot of access to care, therefore, since, by definition, it does not include patients who have not obtained an appointment and have given up on getting one, as well as those who went directly through the medical secretariats or other platforms.
If biases exist, photography, rare on this issue of medical deserts which is so complex to measure, should fuel public debate, while health is one of the primary concerns of the French. These data cover, in addition to general medicine, nine disciplines that are rarely scrutinized: pediatricians, dentists, midwives, masseurs-physiotherapists, ophthalmologists, psychiatrists, cardiologists, dermatologists and gynecologists.
“Reasonable” deadlines in general medicine
Have waiting times to access a doctor exploded? While the testimonies of medically wandering patients resonate in many territories, even in the heart of large cities, the median times for granting appointments “do not evolve or evolve little” between 2021 and 2023, note the authors of the study. “Primary” care, among general practitioners, pediatricians, midwives, physiotherapists, dentists, has the quickest access, less than fifteen days, when “specialty” care is available, for psychiatry, gynecology and ophthalmology, less than a month, and beyond for dermatologists and cardiologists.
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