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THE COST OF SEEING YOUR GP WILL GO UP TO €26.50 THIS AUTUMN BUT NOW THIS IS BEING REFERRED TO AS ONLY ‘STAGE ONE.’ UNIONS WANT IT TO BE AT LEAST €30 The upfront cost of seeing a doctor in

France could rise even further. It is already set to increase €1.50 this autumn, which will see the price of an appointment jump to €26.50 for a GP and €31.50 for a specialist. However, the

director of France’s state-run health insurance agency opened the door to a further hike during a recent interview (in French). Thomas Fatôme, speaking to the newspaper _Les Echos_, admitted

the increase of €1.50 would “only be but one stage” in the process, and that he had “doubtlessly underestimated” the strength of feeling from doctors. Doctors have said the €1.50 rise is

not enough to cover their costs and have called for €30 per consultation just to cover inflation. Sophie Bauer, president of the independent GP union _le__Syndicat des Médecins Libéraux_

(SML), has called for the baseline consultation fee to be €50 and for doctors to be adequately compensated for (and given permission to hold) appointments outside of normal hours. Jérôme

Marty, president of l’_Union française pour une médecine libre_ (UFML), has even called for the baseline consultation fee to be doubled. GP union MG France said it believed there would be a

significant increase in fixed pay for a GP, as well as an increase in fees. Jean-Christophe Nogrette, its president, said: “Without an injection in attractiveness [of the profession],

parallel practices such as unscheduled care or télécabines [consulting a doctor via a screen in a cabin] will remain more popular than our practice, which must therefore be encouraged.”

France’s health minister said talks with unions will resume "in the autumn". Patrick Gasser, co-chairman of specialists union _Avenir Spé-Le Bloc_, said: “The idea is to map out

ways of reaching a new agreement by the end of the year”. Meanwhile, unions have called for a further unlimited general strike starting on October 13, just as the Senate is set to examine a

bill on the geographical spread of self-employed doctors in France. READ MORE THE COST OF SEEING A DOCTOR IN FRANCE IS SET TO INCREASE EXPLAINER: WHY HAVING A DESIGNATED GP IN FRANCE SAVES

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