Medical appointments not honored: a union wants to introduce a financial penalty for patients

In France, more than 28 million medical appointments are not honored each year. Faced with this situation, the union of the French Union for Free Medicine (UFML) wishes to put in place a financial penalty for patients.

It is well known: some people do not hesitate to cancel their medical appointment at the last minute. And this habit annoys more and more practitioners , who demand a sanction for unscrupulous patients.

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In an interview given to Parisian this Friday, September 23, Jérôme Marty, president of the union of the French Union for Free Medicine (UFML), recalls that on average two appointments are not honored per day and per doctor, or more than 28 million wasted consultations per year.

Introduce a financial penalty of a few euros

Faced with this situation, the union wishes to introduce a financial penalty of a few euros for ' patients who do not honor their appointment and do not have the courtesy to cancel it “Explains the president of the UFML union Note that this money would be used” to buy equipment and set up medical centers in rural areas”.

In the columns of the regional daily, a Parisian cardiologist points to online appointment booking platforms: “ This is the deleterious side of online platforms. Patients take the first available appointment, without knowing the doctor, and when they no longer need it or have found another one, they do not have the correction to cancel it ».

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For his part, Jérôme Marty recalls that consultations not honored cause ' loss of opportunity for other patients '. But that's not all ! He also recalls that some municipalities are facing a shortage of attending physicians.

Thus, to fight against incivility, the UFML calls for a financial sanction.