Caregivers, nurses, doctors, radio operators in the street this Thursday, September 22. The health personnel of many establishments in Savoie and Haute-Savoie respond to the call to strike national of the CGT. Suffering at work, degradation of the healthcare offer, lack of staff, bed closures… After a catastrophic summer, medical personnel are still underwater.
“Stop infernal cadences” in nursing homes
Stéphanie is on strike, but she is still requisitioned this Thursday evening in the nursing home of the Chambéry hospital where she works. And as often, when there are no temporary workers, she will be only nurse to manage 200 residents. “We get physically and psychologically tired. It’s good to have end-of-life support, but we don’t have the staff for it. For example, a lady who knew that her illness was going to prevail, who had great difficulty talking about death.“
“That night she was starting to open up and chat with me, but she was interrupted because my phone rang and I had to go to another room.” – Stéphanie, nursing home nurse
“It is a daily frustration.“So she decided to leave the Ehpad to change service in the coming months. The problem: complicated to recruit someone to replace her. Some units are even forced to close completely, as in the hospital of Aix-les-Bains. “40 nursing home beds are closed with no reopening date, added to the 18 beds closed last year in Aix-les-Bains“, specifies Fabrice Lodo, CGT representative at the CHMS. “The Parcoursup system has hurt recruitment. The people who are taken to nursing schools come from all over France. 40% stop after the first year, and when they leave school, they go back home.“
Between 100 and 150 closed beds at the CHMS
Also at Chambéry hospital, beds are momentarily “frozen”. “Whether it is medicine or surgery, we can, from time to time, close 10 to 12 beds, for lack of being able to fill the positions of nursing assistants and nurses”, explains Fabrice Lodo. “We also have a lot of problems with the radiology technicians. One of the two scanners is temporarily closed when there is tension on the staff.” Resignations and burnouts are on the rise. “It’s a hemorrhage. Not a week goes by without agents calling us to resign or be transferred.“Emergencies in Chambéry also continue to be regulated by center 15, every night from 7 p.m., for lack of staff.
The CGT denounces in particular the hospital financing system. “We are not here to make money, but to care for the population“. Appointment at 9 a.m. in front of Annecy hospital for the demonstration and at 2 p.m. in front of Chambéry hospital.