Those without a good excuse will face a €5 penalty, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has said
The French government is proposing to fine patients if they fail to attend doctor appointments without a good excuse, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has announced.
The policy is reportedly aimed at supporting the health service as it struggles to cope with the rising demands of an aging population amid staff shortages and increasing costs.
Attal said on Monday that an estimated 27 million patients fail to show up for medical appointments each year.
“We cannot allow this to continue,” the prime minister said, noting that the new measure could free up between 15 million and 20 million appointments a year for other patients.
The proposed step would be part of a law that, if approved by parliament, could come into effect from January 2025.
Attal’s announcement of the proposed €5 penalty for failing to attend scheduled appointments was met with immediate outcry from doctors’ unions and patients’ groups.
“It won’t work. It’s just a tax… and the end result will be that the health system will lose,” Patrick Pelloux, president of the Emergency Doctors’ Association, told The Guardian.