Overview

• The French Senate and government have adopted complementary measures to address medical deserts, including regulating where doctors can establish practices and mandating service in underserved areas.
• A new territorial solidarity mission requires physicians in well-served zones to provide up to two days of care per month in priority areas.
• General practitioners and specialists seeking to practice in well-served zones must also commit to part-time work in underserved areas, with specific terms to be clarified by decree.
• The measures, part of François Bayrou’s solidarity pact, aim to balance incentives and obligations and contrast with a stricter bill previously passed by the National Assembly.
• Additional provisions include streamlining medical certifications and directing non-EU trained doctors to underserved regions through revised qualification processes.