2024-04-26 07:09:29
Notice of chaos in French public hospitals in early June. Demanding more resources from the government, the clinics and the private doctors who work there reaffirmed this Thursday their desire to strike from June 3 and warned of the consequences of the closure of around 120 emergency services operated by the private sector.
“From 3 [juin], everything will stop, warns the Toulouse surgeon, Philippe Cuq. The situation is going to be dramatic,” continues the representative of the specialists’ union Avenir Spé-Le Bloc. “This will last as long as it takes,” warns Lamine Gharbi, the head of the Federation of Private Hospitalization (FHP).
Postponed interventions
Determined to put pressure on the government – which is already worried about social movements before the Olympic Games – the clinics explain that they will “deprogram” interventions and welcome fewer patients in their services from the end of the month of May to be stopped on June 3.
The FHP plans “three renewable days” from June 3 to 5 for “all activities” (except dialysis) and announces a week of strike from June 3 to 9 for emergencies. A movement, again “renewable”. “Perhaps the government will see that we are essential,” says Lamine Gharbi, recalling that the private sector represents 35% of hospital activity in France.
The objective of this movement, already announced at the beginning of April, is to protest against the distribution of public funding. A few weeks ago, the executive announced an increase in funding granted based on activity carried out by 0.3% for private establishments compared to 4.3% for public hospitals (which also benefit from subsidies).
The executive explains this difference in treatment by the need to finance the salary increases granted to agents and caregivers, but the explanation does not pass to private establishments, which point out that they “run” much better than hospitals public, still struggling to return to the level of activity known before Covid.
500 million euros at stake
“We are stigmatized, we are bullied and we are mistreated,” says Lamine Gharbi, recalling that around 40% of clinics were in deficit at the end of last year and also raising the risk of service closures. And the spokesperson protests the fact that the government does not allow the private sector to increase the salaries of caregivers working at night and on weekends, as is the case in the public sector.
The FHP is demanding 500 million euros to put an end to this “injustice”. In his view, there is no need to increase the budget allocated to meet health expenses. She suggests redeploying credits already planned. A technique still used this week to give a little breathing room to nursing homes, also in financial difficulty.
In detail, the FHP proposes in particular to use planned funding to improve the provision of childcare. The executive promised to improve emergency care when city offices are closed. According to the FHP, it will still take months for the planned new organization to be operational. We might as well use up the money planned for this reform this year.
“No return to the negotiating table”
For their part, private specialist doctors are waiting for the government to put more money on the table to better pay for the “technical procedures” that they carry out. Since last winter, they have been in negotiations with Health Insurance to re-discuss the rules of the game that bind them to Social Security.
Dissatisfied with the proposals made to the specialists, the essential organization Avenir Spé-Le Bloc slammed the door on discussions at the beginning of the month, rushing into the breach opened by the clinics. Most other unions have followed the movement even if general practitioners are keen to resume dialogue as quickly as possible.
30 year old prices
“There is no return to the negotiating table for the moment,” Patrick Gasser, president of Avenir Spé-Le Bloc, declared this Thursday. The specialists are calling in particular for an increase in the envelope planned to upgrade their “technical acts” from 100 to 500 million euros.
“The price of colonoscopy which helps prevent colorectal cancer is exactly the same price […] than in 1990. The equipment has progressed but professional recommendations mean that the examinations are longer than before,” says the gastroenterologist, Franck Devulder, representative of the CSMF union. Specialists also wish to obtain more freedom to invoice excess fees.
#Clinics #specialists #increase #pressure #government