France turns to retired doctors to address medical staffing shortfall

In a café in the southern French town of Albi sits Yves Carcaillet, a retired doctor. 

Over a cup of coffee, he tells CGTN about France's medical crisis, and, specifically, the country's shortage of physicians. Determined to do something about it, Carcaillet is now back at work - barely a year after hanging up his stethoscope. 

The mayor of Albi approached Carcaillet, and he found a solution: successfully getting approval for a temporary clinic. But it is staffed entirely by retired physicians - the first of its kind in France.

"I'm not sure that it will be a cure-all solution, but there is a workforce," says Carcaillet. "Wherever you find retired doctors and if you ask them if they still want to work - they will say 'Yes'.

"All across France, retired doctors are happy to help out. They're experienced, they're qualified – and we're not there to get rich, so it's a cheap workforce as well."

Carcaillet heads off to his afternoon shift at the medical center he established. It's a familiar setting - he was a family doctor for five decades.

Impossible task

In total, eight physicians, aged between 65 and 79, are part of this center. These pension-age workers are on duty for four-hour shifts, so they can still enjoy retired life while helping the community.

Even so, trying to book a doctor's appointment in France can quickly turn into an impossible task.

"We notice that we are starting to see that we are taking on more patients with chronic health problems," says Carcaillet. "They come to us because they can't find a doctor or they don't get the answer they were looking for. We have to adapt."

The current French prime minister François Bayrou promised to raise health spending by more than 3 percent, but the ill health of France's medical sector is chronic as well as acute.

In the 1970s, the government introduced a policy limiting the number of medical students. Ministers at the time felt France had a surplus of doctors and they wanted to reduce lecture sizes as well.

The policy was abolished in 2020 but the impact is still being felt. And as fewer students enroll in medical degrees, France has an aging doctor population.

Medical deserts

The country is facing a shortage of healthcare practitioners, and the problem is especially pronounced in rural areas, where so-called 'medical deserts' are spreading.

In the big cities, access to clinics is less of a problem. But the country's medical density is uneven. The so-called 'medical deserts' are in smaller places like Albi.

With a lack of qualified doctors, France has had to adapt with other healthcare professionals filling in some of the gaps - outside their traditional remit. One example of how medical care expanded was during the pandemic, when pharmacists gave coronavirus vaccinations.

But more drastic measures have also been taken in 'medical deserts'. Some hospitals have closed certain departments, including in some areas the overnight emergency services.

Other cities, such as Paris and Calais, have opened similar centers, and Carcaillet hopes that more will be set up. But using retired - if willing - doctors is only a temporary plaster for France's long-term and deep-rooted medical crisis.