Health. General practitioner in Belfort, he turns away patients because he "can't do it anymore"
Jihad El Ghaoui has been a general practitioner in Belfort since 2006, working in the "largest medical center in France," with 64 healthcare professionals. He still works "the old-fashioned way," but has decided to refuse new patients since this year. This is the result of a slow process, says this doctor, interviewed as part of our Ebra survey on public services.
The rapid retirement of baby boomers is having a major impact on general practitioners: in six years, the waiting time to make an appointment at Jihad El Ghaoui's office in Belfort has increased from a few days to two months. Photo Marie-Lise Perrin
Jihad El Ghaoui, you've been working as a private practitioner for nearly 20 years. Why did you start turning away new patients this year?
"I'm turning away patients because I feel overwhelmed with 1,400 patients registered with social security. I can't do it anymore. I devote between 45 and 60 hours a week to my job, and the more time passes, the more I work. I sometimes have to postpone my home visits, usually scheduled for Thursdays, to Saturdays because I'm overbooked during the week. I'm working more and more often non-stop days, my lunch break is taken up, I only stop for 20 minutes to eat or not at all. And I come home in the evening after 8 p.m. Without my wife's support, I wouldn't be able to keep up this pace."
What are the causes of this...
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