FOCUS – Five of the seven professional health orders are concerned. The Court of Auditors addresses four major criticisms to them.
The Order of Physicians had already been crushed by the Court of Auditors in December 2019, in a damning report on its ethical practices. This time, five of the seven professional health orders (dentists, doctors, pharmacists, physiotherapists and nurses) are accused by the Sages of lacking vigilance on patient safety. The financial magistrates address four major reproaches to them.
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These private organizations charged with a public service mission have as their first mission to verify the registration of health professionals in their respective order. This registration, which gives rise to the payment of a subscription, is compulsory to exercise. It makes it possible to verify the professional capacities of the practitioners and their respect for the code of ethics. However, in 2019, only 48% of practicing nurses were registered with the order. Which can have serious consequences for patient safety: “A practitioner guilty of professional misconduct or practicing despite a prohibition cannot in fact, in this case, be prosecuted or sanctioned by the order to which he belongs”, notes the court.
Few training
In addition, the prohibitions to exercise pronounced against the practitioners do not appear in the management systems of the board of the order, “Which would however make it possible to deactivate the professional card without delay and prevent a practitioner, convicted in one region, from continuing to practice in another”, notes the court.
These professional bodies must also verify that the practitioners respect their obligation of continuing training. However, less than 15% of practitioners attest to having trained each year.
In addition, if the orders can pronounce the temporary suspension of the right to practice – in the event of infirmity or pathological state of the practitioner making dangerous the exercise of his profession or in the event of professional insufficiency -, the number of pronounced suspensions each year is low.
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Finally, the court points to too many conflicts of interest in the governing bodies of the orders. It therefore recommends opening them up to non-health professionals and requiring them to make a public declaration of interests.
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