“Patients have been abandoned by the health policy over the last 15 years,” says Alain Schmit, president of the AMMD. “The politicians think that things will be better tomorrow and that doctors will return to the country. I call this a health policy of ideology, ignorance, recklessness, incoherence and incompetence,” continued Dr Philippe Wilmes, vice-president of the AMMD.
For a little over two hours, the members of the AMMD's Board of Directors welcomed some 250 health professionals from across the country at the Atert Centre in Bertrange. One after the other, with the support of legal opinions, in addition to a few explanations from the lawyers of the doctors' association, the problems of the health sector in Luxembourg were listed and explained at length.
There is a growing malaise in the entire health sector. For years now, the Ministry of Health has not taken the situation seriously.
Unreasonable waiting times for mammograms, low compensation for doctors during legally imposed on-call duty, a policy that is unfavourable to the free exercise of the radiologist's profession in the context of the controversy surrounding the purchase of radiology equipment outside hospital structures, a reduction in the country's attractiveness to doctors and too little financial support for the establishment of dental practices are all subjects that have dragged on too long and have not found a satisfactory political response. Worse still, some issues have even been ignored, according to the AMMD, which deplores the lack of dialogue with the current health minister (LSAP).
Moreover, recent examples of the extent of discontent in the health sector are not lacking. Last April, the Centre Hospitalier du Nord (CHDN) decided to at its Ettelbruck site due to a lack of paediatricians specialising in neonatology. More recently, six cardiologists resigned from the CHDN due to a policy of remuneration for on-call duty that they deemed inadequate.
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However, the AMMD assured that this was not a personal problem with Lenert, the current minister of health. (LSAP) and (LSAP), former health ministers, were also mentioned, as well as various ministers of social security, such as (LSAP).
“We are fighting for the professional future of a new generation of doctors. But we are facing a political wall that prevents us from practising our profession in the interest of our patients. There is a growing malaise throughout the health sector. For years now, the health ministry has not taken the situation seriously. In the end, it is the patients who pay the price of an irresponsible health policy over the last 15 years,” said Schmit.
The Gesondheetsdësch, a missed opportunity
Another point of exasperation is the digital policy and strategy of the CNS and the eHealth agency. The AMMD has on multiple occasion pointed to a lack of transparency in the operation of the eHealth agency and has accused it, again with supporting legal opinions, of being illegal with regard to the shared file.
At this stage, it is difficult to hope for a solution in the coming weeks, as dialogue and trust seem to have broken down between the AMMD and the health ministry. This is especially the case since the last "Gesondheetsdësch" (health round table), which was to be used to reshape a health system deemed “vulnerable” during previous audits on the subject, ended up being “a missed opportunity,” according to the AMMD, which intends to make its voice heard, one year before the legislative elections.
This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.