France plans to shake up surgeon services:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Each region in France should have a "surgery programme" to maximise the potential of services available in their area. This is the response of a government working group to the dwindling number of surgeons in France, especially those with general skills because of the recent tendency towards specialisation. The programme would involve looking at surgeon availability in a given region and planning spreading services across several hospitals to maximise the availability of skills. Factors influencing surgeon availability include: the introduction of new technologies which are replacing traditional surgery and which require highly trained and skilled teams of surgeons; the impact of the 35-hour week, which will hit the emergency services in particular; and the need to meet increasingly tighter safety standards.