Patients in France who fail to turn up to a doctor’s appointment without a good excuse will be fined €5 (£4.30) under a proposal from the government, reports The Guardian.
Gabriel Attal said on Monday that medical professionals reported an estimated 27m no-shows every year, adding: “We cannot allow this to continue.”
The prime minister announced the €5 penalty as part of a series of measures intended to boost a health service that is creaking under staff shortages, increasing costs and growing demand.
But the proposed fine was immediately criticised by doctors’ unions and patients’ groups.
Patrick Pelloux, president of the emergency doctors’ association, said: “It won’t work. It’s just a tax … and the end result will be that the health system will lose.”
Luc Duquesnel, who is a GP, told France Bleu radio it would be better to “educate people rather than tell professionals they have to tax them, which will strain relations with our patients”.
Attal said the step would be part of a law he hoped would be approved by parliament and come into effect from January next year.