An appointment in dermatology? Three months of minimum waiting. And sometimes much more, especially outside the major metropolises. Monday, June 23, 2025, at the heart of Paris Health Campus, the round table “Skin diseases: a care path to reinvent” brought together patients, doctors, associations and political decision -makers. Objective: Breaking the taboo on these often minimized pathologies but with colossal impact on everyday life.
Eczema, acne, psoriasis … Behind these skin diseases, dented lives, ignored emergencies, and immense solitude.
“We think it’s a simple plate that scratches. But some patients find themselves hospitalized, isolated, unable to work”, alert Stéphanie Merhandpresident of the French skin federation.
The observation is clear: Access to dermatological care has become an obstacle race for millions of patients in France.
Why is it so difficult to have an appointment in dermatology?
The diagnosis has been made for a long time but few answers have followed. According to the data presented during the round table, France now has less than 2,900 dermatologists in practiceagainst more than 3,800 ten years ago. And almost 30 % of retirements will not be replaced.
THE Pr Saskia Oropresident of the French Society of Dermatology, recalls that this specialty has become “A dead angle of public health policy“. Some areas of the territory no longer have any specialist. Even in Île-de-France, yet well endowed in theory, the fall reaches -60 % in departments like Seine-Saint-Denis or Val-d’Oise.
Consequence: 50 % of patients interviewed in an Ifop/Sanofi study claim to have abandoned any attempted consultation Faced with the impossibility of obtaining an appointment. And when they succeed, it is often after connecting at midnight to catch a released niche … in three months.
Visible diseases, but a blind system for suffering
“”In dermatology, There are real vital emergencies, but also felt emergencies. A patient burned from head to toe by a psoriasis push can experience a real ordeal “explains Professor Oro.
However, these “felt” emergencies, although not vital, are often left out.
And yet, the psychological impact is immense. “Patients no longer sleep, isolate themselves, fall into depression“, testifies Stéphanie Merhand. The problem does not only reside in the disease, but in the delay in diagnosisthere therapeutic lossand the Quality of life sacrificed. “We have patients who live the equivalent of cancer in terms of everyday alteration, simply because they can no longer use their hands or their face”, she continues.
Patients find themselves tossed between general practitioners, pharmacists, osteopaths … but rarely in front of a specialist. However, as the Dr. Marc Revertepresident of the FFFCEDV: “Dermatology is 3,500 pathologies, some benign, other serious. It is a specialty of expertise: without consultation, there is a real danger. “
- An average density of only 3.2 to 3.5 dermatologists per 100,000 inhabitants (Objective: 6 per 100,000)
- 110 dermatologists trained per yearwhen it would take at least 130 to compensate for retirements
- A Average age of professionals between 55 and 59 years old
- 50 % of patients give up consulting lack of availability
Solutions exist: but time is running out
Faced with this dead end, the actors gathered in Paris have not only drawn up. They proposed solutions. “We launched the program Mobile Derma traveling dermatological bus that will go to patients in under-to-do areas in the fall in New Aquitaine “announces Professor Oro.
The implementation ofSpecialized care teams (ESS) in dermatology is also on the table. These networks bring together dermatologists, general practitioners, nurses trained in wounds, even pharmacists. The objective? Better organize the care course and pool skills.
“All professionals who see the patient’s skin must see, physiotherapists, osteos, pharmacists, can be sentries“Underlines Stéphanie Merhand.
THE MP Cyrille Isaac-SibilleTraining or committed to prevention, abounds in this direction: “You have to stop organizing the system from above, Since the CHU. The solution will come from the field, with local teams well coordinated.“”
Another track: the dermatological tele-expertiseallowing a general practitioner to quickly obtain an opinion from a distance specialist. “But there must still be a dermatologist behind the screen, with clear photos and a complete clinical description“, tempers Dr. Reverte.
Finally, the hospital system must keep its appeal function, for the rarest or complex pathologies. Posts of hospital assistants shared between CHU and local hospitals are starting to deploy, especially in Melun or Fontainebleau. A model to duplicate everywhere.
Because behind each damaged skin, there is a life. And each life deserves a door to him, not to close a saturated agenda.