Pierre, forty-something from Alfortville (Val-de-Marne), has his back blocked at work. He needed an emergency doctor, especially since he no longer had a doctor. But it was a bit of an obstacle course. No doctor was available during the day or the next day to give him a work stoppage, yet required within 48 hours by Health Insurance. Nothing on Doctolib, and several medical offices called have no places. Finally it is the doctor of a relative who will end up taking pity on him. “When you’re in pain and there’s an emergency, it’s a little worrying,” he says.
Pierre is not the only one: more than half of Ile-de-France residents encounter difficulties in consulting a general practitioner, according to an Odoxa survey for the Regional Health Agency, unveiled on the occasion of the restitution of the work of the National Council for the refoundation of Health in Ile-de-France. In detail, 52% of the inhabitants of the region claim to encounter these difficulties, i.e. 9 points more than the national average. And the problem is even greater in Seine-et-Marne (64%), Essonne (63%) and Val-d’Oise (59%).
The fight against pollution, a priority for the inhabitants
Should nurses be allowed to replace attending physicians? Ile-de-France residents are not in favor of it (56% negative opinions). Also the CNR Santé in Ile-de-France recommends to “encourage and develop the methods of practice of advanced practice nurses (IPA)”, i.e. nurses capable of prescribing health products or additional examinations, without going so far as to replace the attending physician.
Another lesson from the survey: Ile-de-France residents place environmental health (58%), ahead of the fight against addictions (41%), mental health (37%), occupational health (33%) or the health of children (26%). In addition, “62% of Ile-de-France residents believe that the environment and pollution have negative effects on their state of health”, says the survey. This is 7 points more than the national average. And it is a factor that precedes financial difficulties, transport conditions, working conditions or even lack of information, all conditions considered less impacting on health than pollution.
Survey methodology
Survey carried out by Internet and by telephone* from November 24 to December 1, 2022 on a sample of 2,977 inhabitants of Île-de-France representative of the population of Ile-de-France aged 18 and over and a sample of 1,005 people representative of the French population aged 18 and over.
The representativeness of the sample is ensured by the method of quotas applied to the following variables: sex, age, level of diploma and profession of the interviewee after stratification by region and category of agglomeration.