For an application of the texts framing their working time at 48 hours per week, the interns of Caen have given formal notice to their CHU. The latter has 1 month to comply.
On February 26, 2015, a decree relating to the working time of interns was published with application from May 1 of that same year. This regulation stipulates that the maximum weekly working time of interns must not exceed 48 hours. This time, which also includes training time outside the internship, is however not respected. This is the alert launched this Friday by the residents of the CHU de Caen. A recurring problem for which France had already been put on notice by the European Commission in June 2013.
One month to comply
In a press release published this friday the Syndicate of Interns Bas-Normans (SIBN) writes: “In this dangerous context for the safety of residents and patients, and in the face of the lack of dialogue, the SIBN, representing all medical residents in the Lower Normandy region, has chosen to remains the CHU of Caen so that it complies with the regulations in force ”.
He adds: “The management of the establishment is put on notice from Thursday, July 30, 2015 for the implementation of the regulations on September 1, 2015”.
With this action, the SIBN therefore leaves the establishment 31 days to comply with the law, under penalty of being sued. A democratic choice, since this decision is based on vote of 62 interns of the establishment present at the time of the poll : 41/62 (66.1%) checked the box “for a strike movement”, while 60/62 (96.8%) declared themselves for a formal notice from the CHU.
Concretely, the establishment will therefore have to establish a clear roster of working hours for interns respecting the legislation.
Weeks of 60 hours on average
To understand the origin of this anger, the union brought out the figures of a survey conducted by the Inter Syndicat National des Internes (ISNI) in September 2012. It revealed that the weeks of work of medical interns exceeded , on average, the 60 hours. And in some extreme cases, interns can even do up to 90 hours per week, for an internship in the emergency room for example.
Contacted by Why, Mathieu Bansard, President of the Syndicat des Internes de Médecine Général Bas-Normands (SIMBAN) confirms these figures: “Currently, I am at the Caen University Hospital in general medicine and I exceed 60 hours each week. Moreover, the future general practitioners of the department, exasperated by this situation, are at the origin of this movement ”.
Asked about the even more problematic fate of his colleagues, the young practitioner is categorical: “In surgery in particular, I have friends who, occasionally, work up to 100 hours a week, it is no longer tenable, the burn- out the menance! He says, worried.
This observation obviously has repercussions on the quality of care: 15% of residents who return to work on their safety rest reported having made at least one medical error, according to the ISNI survey.
The complaint and / or the strike under the elbow
An inadmissible situation when we know that, since 2002, the medical intern has benefited from a safety rest at the end of each night call lasting 11 hours immediately following the call. A theoretical obligation, since in practice, one in five hospitals does not apply this device (more than 70% in surgery). At the end of 2014, Marisol Touraine, Minister of Health, announced that he was preparing sanctions against hospitals that did not respect the safety rest of interns.
In the meantime, and for the rest of the events in Caen, Mathieu Bansard confides: “If on September 1, the Caen University Hospital is not ready, we will file a complaint against him through our lawyer. This can lead to a conviction for non-compliance with the law, ”he warns.
The CHU will then have no other choice but to comply. “For its part, the management tells us that it will be ready on November 1st. I have doubts, but if this is confirmed, we will see what action to take. We also have the threat of a strike that we keep under the elbow for the start of the school year. When the troops are complete. In Cherbourg, the interns are respected, the CHU of Caen should do the same, ”he concludes. Good to hear, hi …
.
