Interview with Dr Michaël LUMBROSO on the regulated professions
Interview given to TV Yvelines Première, broadcast on 26/09/2014.
Following a report by the Inspection Générale des Finances (IGF) on the regulated professions, the government is launching a reform of our profession. It is in this context that Doctor Michaël LUMBROSO was interviewed on the TV channel Yvelines Première.
Following a report by the Inspection Générale des Finances (IGF) on the regulated professions, the government is embarking on a reform of our profession.
Unfortunately the health of patients (which we all are!) is not at the heart of this reform!
At a time when more than ever our health system needs to evolve, to change towards more Prevention, more Quality, towards a more Global care of the Health of our fellow citizens; our governing bodies are proposing a reform without ambition, a brutal deregulation, a reform that does not take into account the needs of Public Health... Worse, they are proposing a reform that could be dangerous, for all of us.
Three proposals of the IGF directly impact our profession :
- The abolition of the Numerus Clausus of dental studies
==> In 2013, almost a third of the dentists who were newly registered with the Order Council had a foreign diploma (in the vast majority of cases Romanian). The Numerus Clausus has long been circumvented, but not always in the direction of Quality... The common competitive examination for medical studies (Doctors, Dentists, Physiotherapists, etc.), the PCEM1, is the guarantee of a certain level of Excellence, recognised throughout the world.
- The entry of external capital into private practice companies
==> While we know the damage that such a reform of the Medical Analysis Laboratories has caused (numerous redundancies in the sector, and a reduction in the number of local laboratories), why repeat such a mistake? Opening up our private practices to outside capital is to bring speculators into the heart of our health system! It is to transform our practices into purely commercial enterprises! What is the benefit for the health of our patients?
It is also taking the risk to see brands like E.LECLERC opening dental centres within their shopping centres (M.E. LECLERC does not hide its ambitions to invest in this sector, see here).
Do we really want to see the methods of mass distribution applied to our health?
Our health is not a commercial good!
- The dissociation of the prosthetic act
- ==> Currently a Dentist is the only one responsible for the prostheses he fits to his patients, and this is quite normal. This is why all dentists in France are obliged to take out professional indemnity insurance (RCP).
- To dissociate the fitting of a dental prosthesis from the manufacture of a dental prosthesis would be to create a direct commercial link between the patients and the dental prosthesis makers, which would make the dental prosthesis makers legally responsible! The dental technicians are fiercely opposed to this, as they would in turn be obliged to take out a PII, which would considerably increase costs! ABSURD.
- Faced with such aberrations, I felt it was my duty to take sides.
- Both as an individual and as President of theAssociation Dentiste en France, I reiterate my call to put Health, Welfare and the interest of our patients back at the heart of the debate.
- As for us, let us continue to defend the values we believe in: Quality, Prevention and Trust.
Versailles, 1st October 2014
Doctor Michaël LUMBROSO, Dental Surgeon in Versailles, Yvelines,
President of theAssociation Dentiste en France