Strike closes doctors' surgeries

FRANCE'S biggest doctors' union has called on members to shut their surgeries on Monday and Tuesday, in a protest against changes to the way GPs are paid.

The walkout by doctors belonging to the MG France union comes after a weekend of demonstrations involving four other unions representing general practitioners.

About 200 GPs took part in a go-slow convoy in Paris on Saturday to complain about the Loi Touraine, which includes scrapping upfront payments for consultations by 2017, with doctors paid in arrears by the health insurance scheme instead.

Another 300 demonstrators turned out in Bordeaux and marched towards the city's new sports stadium, sponsored by insurer MatMut, which campaigners say is evidence that the healthcare sector is becoming too commercialised.

The strike action on Monday and Tuesday coincides with a final vote on the Loi Touraine in the Senate, before the law heads back to the National Assembly to be adopted.

Some regional branches of MG France are predicting strike turnouts of up to 90% - notably in the Saône-et-Loire, Finistère and parts of Lorraine.