French Public Health Code
In forceDoctors take part in on-call duty and regulation activities on a voluntary basis.
If the Departmental Medical Council notes that there are no or insufficient numbers of volunteer doctors, it will seek the opinion of the regional union of health professionals representing doctors, representatives of doctors in health centres at departmental level and associations involved in on-call duty, with a view to completing the on-call roster. If, following these consultations and steps, the on-call roster is still incomplete, the Departmental Medical Council sends a report to the Director General of the Regional Health Agency. This report sets out the opinions received and draws up a list of doctors who are likely to be available for on-call duty, giving their professional addresses and telephone numbers.
The Director General of the Regional Health Agency communicates this information to the Prefect of the Department or, in Paris, to the Prefect of the Police, so that the latter can, if necessary, issue the requisitions provided for in the second paragraph of article L. 6314-1.
The obligations or commitments undertaken by the regular doctor in the context of permanent care are assumed by the doctor who replaces him.
The Conseil Départemental de l'Ordre des Médecins may grant exemptions from on-call duty to take account of the age, state of health and, where applicable, working conditions of certain doctors. The list of exempted doctors is sent to the director general of the regional health agency by the departmental council, who forwards it to the departmental prefect or, in Paris, to the police prefect.
When justified by the specific needs of defence, the Minister of Defence may at any time terminate the participation of an armed forces doctor in the permanent provision of care and in dispatch activities.
