In Pas-de-Calais, ephemeral offices, oasis in the medical desert-Liberation

Faced with the distrust of citizens vis-à-vis the State, institutions or politics, what role can local communities play? Such was the object of a conference organized in Rouen by the national center of the territorial public service. An event that Release is a partner.

It is a medical office like the others, in a busy street in downtown Bully-les-Mines (Pas-de-Calais), 12,221 inhabitants near Lens, with its plaque, the affable secretary, and the patients who arrive a little in advance, for the consultations at 2 p.m. However, its existence is a small miracle of partnership, in a mining basin where doctors are scarce. “We had three general practitioners who retired over two years, between 2021 and 2022, reports Sébastien Zanetti, pharmacist. People asked us daily, asked us if we knew a doctor who was still taking people. ”

Nathalie Blanquet, assistant to solidarity and health at the town hall of Bully, confirms the importance of the issue: « At the end of the Covid, people did not consider it, there was A total renunciation of care. This was added to Medical desertification : It was essential to ask and think. «  The town hall did not have the means to wage doctors. It was necessary to find more innovative.

The municipality then turned to the Professional Territorial Health Community (CPTS) Liévin-Pays d’Artois, of which Sébastien Zanetti is a member. This network of health professionals is funded by the Regional Health Agency and the CPAM. There are everywhere in France. « We organize solutions for populations on an identified need », explains the network coordinator, Ryad Maudarbaccus. Precisely, he has an experiment on hand, led to Mazingarbe, very close to Bully, which it is possible to duplicate. The idea: to open an ephemeral medical office, which can last if affinities. A tailor -made offer for young interns, who want to settle in liberal, but not to engage for life in the same corner of France, as was done in time. Too bad if there is a turnover, the six-month notice is sufficient to find a practitioner, and maintain the supply of care.

Sébastien Zanetti abounds: “Young people do not want to marry a cabinet. They don’t know what they are going to do in five years and they are asked to anchor for years. ” Honorine de Aquieudt, one of the general practitioners of the cabinet, listening, sparkling eye. « What is true for our generation is that the vision of the professions has changed, she takes up. I find it great to be a family doctor, but it is no longer really possible to tell patients: « I am your doctor in life, to death. »  » Here, in this firm of « Advanced General Medicine », the official appellation of the system, she appreciates « Testing things, transparently for patients. »

Honorine de Aquieudt arrived in December 2023 and was originally committed for a minimum duration of one year, sharing full time with a sister. Since then, they have received 1,200 patients. The town hall has acquired the premises, arranged them and provides a medical secretary. The CPTS offers its advice, has invested in the computer system, plays its network to find young doctors, which it welcomes. « When you arrive on the territory, you do not feel alone », appreciates Honorine dequudt, for whom “What is really scary is the logistical side when you settle down. We have zero accounting lessons during our studies. « 

Two other doctors, who have just finished their boarding school, joined the cabinet in November 2024. Louisa Lasri, 27, and Nicolas Lecigne, 28, both from the mining basin, have heard of it by word of mouth. « It is the freedom that we are offered that I appreciate, testifies Nicolas Lecigne. I tell myself that I could, in some time, have a half-time in town, a half-time in the hospital. ”

However, when the institutions were windy of this limited engagement system for doctors, « Eyes have gone apart », testifies the president of the CPTS Liévin-Pays d’Artois, Doctor Tayssir El Masri. We had to convince. In the waiting room, patients are relieved: all, without exception, were looking for a attending physician, after the retirement of their general practitioner. Caroline, 49, employed in schools, does not fear the turnover of practitioners: « We prefer that it is the same people who accompany us, but as long as there is a doctor! »