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France’s Health Minister Sets Saturday Talks With Striking Doctors as ERs Strain

Official data show sharp declines in office activity during a protest over Social Security budget measures.

Overview

  • Stéphanie Rist invited liberal doctors’ unions to the ministry on Saturday, the day of planned demonstrations, after nearly a week of a rolling walkout.
  • Assurance maladie figures show activity on Tuesday fell 19% for general practitioners and 12% for specialists compared with the same day last year.
  • The minister reported tension across emergency departments linked to flu outbreaks, recent snow and the strike’s spillover effect on hospital demand.
  • Paris’s Saint-Antoine hospital logged 240 ER visits from Tuesday to Wednesday versus a usual 180, a roughly 40% jump that staff said they absorbed.
  • Several hospitals triggered ‘plan blanc’ contingency measures, including the Toulouse university hospital, while patients reported canceled city appointments and disrupted follow-ups.