73% of French people say they have given up on at least one act of care over the last five years, regrets the French Hospital Federation (FHF), which brings together the territory’s public hospitals, calling on candidates for the presidential election to take up this “crucial” theme.
“Access to care continues to deteriorate” in France. This is the finding of the latest FHF x Ipsos barometer, published Tuesday March 17, which points to alarming consequences: This situation is leading a growing number of French people to give up seeking treatment and is putting ever-increasing pressure on public emergencies. According to this Ipsos survey for the FHF (on a representative sample of 2,500 people, online) the time to obtain a medical appointment is increasing. The French say they waited 12 days on average to see a general practitioner compared to four days in 2019. They waited three weeks and two days to see a pediatrician, compared to two weeks and four days in 2019. At the cardiologist, this declared time has almost tripled (you now have to wait three months and two days compared to one month and three weeks in 2019) and doubled at the dermatologist (four months and two weeks of waiting today, compared to two months and two days in time).
The French are moving away from care
73% of French people say they have given up “at least one act of care” (consultation, analyses, etc.) in the last five years due to long delays or accessibility, geographic or budgetary difficulties. This is 10 points more than in 2024 (63%). The situation in hospitals also affects the confidence of the French: 63% of them admit to being “afraid of having to be hospitalized given the current situation in hospitals”. Nearly one in two French people (49%) also say they have already gone to the emergency room for something other than a “medical emergency”. Note that the situation is particularly critical in the Centre-Val-de-Loire, Bourgogne-France-Comté or Pays-de-la-Loire regions. The deficit of public hospitals is still very worrying. It reached 2.5 billion euros at the end of 2025 and even 2.7 billion including nursing homes (2.9 billion in total in 2024).
Political surge
“The French are legitimately expecting a political upheaval: there is an urgent need to act for health! », Reacted Zaynab Riet, general delegate of the FHF. “The message sent by the French is very clear: 90% of them say they are angry at the lack of resources at the public hospital, and as many fear a major deterioration if investments are not made quickly. And, as it stands, 7 out of 10 French people fear not being able to access quality care in the event of urgent need. Such a situation is absolutely unacceptable.” She calls for her wishes a health programming law, based on the defense or justice model, to give visibility and stability to the system as a whole”, “a programming law on old age, essential to adapt our society to the aging process” and « strong mobilization on major issues such as women’s health and psychiatry, necessary to respond to the most pressing needs and the unthinking that continue to weaken certain populations.
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