Lack of resources mobilized by the State, shortage of caregivers, reluctance of doctors to settle in rural areas… 73% of French people feel that the functioning of the health system has deteriorated in recent years.
Doctors’ strike, hospital crisis, drug shortages, triple epidemic… The French health system is under the spotlight. According to an Elabe poll for The echoes, Radio Classique and Institut Montaigne published this Thursday, one in two French people say they have complicated, long or partial access to care services where they live, whether by moving or on the Internet. A proportion that has risen sharply since October 2021.
12% of respondents say they no longer have access at all to sufficient care (hospital, general practitioners, specialists). Only 31% say they have quick and easy access to everything they need.
Geographical and social differences
These difficulties in accessing healthcare services have been increasing since October 2021 in the same proportions within all categories of the population. They remain much more present in rural municipalities and small towns (17% no access, 59% complicated access) than in large towns (7% no access, 45% complicated access).
According to this survey, there is also a divide between people in financial difficulty since 17% of them have no access to care services against 8% for those who do not have to restrict themselves.
No trust in the executive to solve the problem
53% of French people consider that the healthcare system in France works poorly. A figure significantly lower than those measured in June 2021 (22%), “in a context of the Covid crisis where public opinion hailed the efficiency and usefulness of the health system”, recalls the polling institute.
In addition, 73% of French people feel that the functioning of the health system has deteriorated in recent years. This feeling is largely in the majority among all categories of the population and electorates, including among the French who say they have easy and quick access to the health services they need.
The respondents identify many causes for the problems raised: lack of resources mobilized by the State in hospitals, lack of caregivers, reluctance of doctors to settle in rural areas, arduous care professions or even abusive recourse to emergencies. Nearly three out of four French people do not trust Emmanuel Macron and the government of Elisabeth Borne to resolve these difficulties.
Sample of 1005 people representative of residents of mainland France aged 18 and over. The representativeness of the sample was ensured according to the quota method applied to the following variables: sex, age and profession of the interviewee after stratification by region and category of agglomeration. Questionnaire by Internet from January 3 to 4, 2023. For a sample of 1000 people, the margins of error are as follows with a confidence level of 95%.
