More than 600 French doctors threaten to quit amid funding row

More than 600 French hospital doctors have threatened to resign if the government does not increase health funding, as striking medics prepare to take to the streets this week across the country.

The doctors warn that budget cuts, bed closures and staff shortages are bringing France’s health system to the brink of collapse and putting patients’ lives at risk.

“Public hospitals in France are dying,” wrote 660 medics from hospitals all over France in an unprecedented open letter, saying funding cuts were threatening patient safety in what was once seen as one of the best healthcare systems in the world.

Doctors are calling for urgent government talks after nine months of hospital strikes, which began in March in emergency rooms and have since spread across departments from paediatrics to psychiatry, with junior doctors joining this month and no end in sight.

On Tuesday, medics will march across France carrying banners saying: “Public hospitals: a life-threatening emergency”.

The long-running healthcare strikes are proving a major headache to the centrist president, Emmanuel Macron, with rail workers now adding to his troubles by carrying out nationwide stoppages against pension changes.

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