The Order of Physicians

After the order of dental surgeons in 2016 and that of physiotherapist massagers in 2017, the Court of Auditors audited the National Council of the Order of Physicians (CNOM), 46 departmental councils (out of 101) and the 24 regional councils. Created in 1945, the Order of Physicians is a private body entrusted with a public service mission. Its role is to ensure that practitioners respect the rules of ethics and to defend the independence and honour of the profession. It has annual resources of around EUR 85 million, from the compulsory contributions of some 300000 doctors, from reserves of EUR 152 million and from assets valued at EUR 110 million. The order only marginally took into account the recommendations made by the Court in 2012 following its previous review: it remains marked by governance problems, serious management failures, persistent shortcomings in the performance of its tasks and a lack of rigour in the handling of patient complaints.