"Getting treatment is not a privilege": in Nice, a driver helps doctors reach highly dependent patients

No doctor, or rather, no doctor to come to the home: an increasingly common ordeal for some isolated elderly people, unable to get to a doctor's office. This includes in Nice.

Based on this observation, the City, the Nice Centre - Nice Est Territorial Professional Health Community (CPTS), Les Petits Frères des Pauvres and the Safe G association, created by emergency physician Joëlle Martinaux, have joined forces in a unique partnership to provide a driver to volunteer doctors to travel to the bedside of these patients.

"The spirit of this initiative, launched in January, is to put dependent patients back into the care pathway," summarizes Dr. Martinaux.

Because it is intended for a very specific category: "People who no longer have a primary care physician, who therefore no longer have follow-up care and who cannot go to a health center," says Lilian Rouch, director of the CPTS. It is this latter organization that takes on the role of coordinator.

“To return to the care pathway”

"The CPTS - but it can also be the municipal social action center, the primary health insurance fund or Les Petits Frères des Pauvres - will provide the Safe G association with a list of patients who meet these criteria. We will then find doctors who could provide them with home care," adds Dr. Martinaux.

"And for this, the provision of a driver by the City changes everything: it solves the problem of transport and parking. Because the time lost by looking for a space is often a reason for refusing home visits. If we remove this constraint, we allow people to return to a care pathway."

Access conditions are relatively restrictive. "The system is intended for long-term care. In case of emergency, you should contact 15 or SOS Médecins," assures the founder of Safe G.

"The CPTS checks that people meet the conditions and directs them to another type of care if it is indicated," assures Lilian Rouch. "For the moment, the system only applies to our territory, that is to say 06000 and 06300 [city center and east of the city]. People can contact us directly ([email protected]) but we can also be alerted by pharmacists, nurses or relatives."

“Getting treatment is a right”

For his part, the president of the regional council of the Order of Physicians, Hervé Caël (also a municipal councilor of Nice), welcomes this initiative: "Access to care is a major issue. Any action that promotes it is a good thing. Here, it meets needs without weakening existing facilities and is part of a regional medical project. The Order is not aware of similar experiences in the region and, for the moment, the feedback is positive."

Safe G is also calling for volunteers: "We need doctors willing to visit patients at home and ensure their follow-up as well as coordination with other professionals: nurses, specialists, etc." , says Joëlle Martinaux.

It was she who suggested the idea of ​​the chauffeur scheme to the mayor, Christian Estrosi, who assures that "thanks to this helping hand, we are defending a simple principle: no one should be left out of the healthcare pathway because getting treatment is not a privilege, it is a right."