While a plan providing for the closure of 230 beds and the elimination of at least 800 jobs is likely to be put in place at the Marseille public hospital this week, the shortage of staff in hospitals continues to worsen conditions caregivers’ workload and the quality of care.
In Marseille, the shortage of staff in hospitals continues to pose a problem and yet, on Wednesday, the Interministerial Committee for the Performance and Modernization of the Hospital Care Offer (Copermo) will have to rule on the possible implementation of the project to modernize public assistance at the Marseille public hospital, indebted by more than 1 billion euros. This plan, estimated at 300 million euros, provides for the closure of more than 230 beds and the elimination of 800 to 1,000 jobs, including 300 to 400 caregivers (doctors, nurses and nursing assistants).
The unions denounce the cuts in the wage bill: “it is unacceptable when some services no longer have enough staff to function normally (…) We are very worried because we were told a month ago that there would be 800 to 1,000 job cuts across the whole of APHM, while we would need 500 more jobs “, explains Fatiha Ferkous, nurse and CGT delegate, quoted by France Info. “Sometimes, in certain departments, we find ourselves only nurse for 20 to 25 patients”.
The implosion of public hospitals
This staff shortage from which many establishments suffer leads to a deterioration in the working conditions of caregivers and in the quality of care. On Twitter, #BalanceTonHosto recites dozens of testimonials from doctors, nurses and caregivers denouncing the degradation of patient care, as well as their lack of resources and equipment. “Delivery of 3 patients carried out without any epidural because the only anesthetist on call was unreachable and when he finally showed up he smelled of alcohol at 20 meters … We preferred to do without”, denounces an intern in fourth year of Medicine. “Patient died 1 hour earlier and there we ask the family to clear the room immediately, explaining to them that the room must be made profitable”, denounces another hospital staff under a pseudonym.
Emergencies in shambles, little or no staff to treat them, a succession of tragedies, staff under pressure, exhausted, the French hospital environment implodes from within. “If we need to save money, let’s save money on organization rather than reducing the number of staff dedicated to patient care and support,” protested on France Info Michel Tsimaratos, professor of pediatrics at Marseille University Hospital and signatory of the petition. “There is a real difficulty in functioning and considerable suffering for the agents. When we know the missions that hospitals fulfill, we must bear in mind that the wealth of hospitals are the resources, much more than the structures: the quality of training of the agents, their skills, their commitment. “A thousand doctors and health executives have co-signed a petition denouncing the funding system for public hospitals Rather discreet on the subject, the Minister of Health Agnès Buzin recently affirmed that “announcements will be made in February”.
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