Several major French hospitals have reported a difficult weekend, with emergency units struggling to cope with the huge number of patients visiting accident services because of the on-going strike by many local GPs. That week-long strike has now been extended to 8 January with a protest march set for Thursday.
General practitioners who are members of the professional representative body, "Médecins pour Demain" (Doctors for Tomorrow), have been on strike since 26 December for an increase in their fees.
