Lack of doctors: an airlift between Dijon and Nevers – Journal de 20 heures
On board a single-engine aircraft, pulmonologist, two surgeons, a cardiologist, eight doctors in all. And to travel the 180 km that separate Dijon from Nevers, it only takes 35 minutes by flight, compared to at least 2 hours and 45 minutes by car. The plane therefore makes possible the round trip in one day. Dr. Inna Dygai-Cochet is now strengthening the nuclear medicine department of Nevers hospital. Cancer is diagnosed and treated here. “There is only one doctor on site. So it’s really not enough. Ideally, there should be three doctors,” she says. Nevers is what can be called a medical desert. In France, there is one general practitioner for every 854 inhabitants. In Nièvre, it is one for 2,000 inhabitants. “We no longer have a dermatologist. Gynecologist, I go to Clermont”, says a local resident. “Last week, I went to Lyon just for an appointment with a surgeon, which I had in less than a week, because here it was not possible”, another adds. The hospital regularly uses temporary doctors, charging up to 3,000 euros a day, against 670 euros for a round trip by plane. But using a means of transport more polluting than the car or the train to treat, isn’t that disproportionate? For me, ecology is above all common sense. Respect for the environment, we try to do it, but the priority is according to the health of the Nivernais”, Denis Thuriot, mayor (RE) of Nevers. TF1 | Reportage A. Tassin, E. Fourny, I. Blonz