Nearly 100% of public hospitals and nursing homes surveyed by the French Hospital Federation claim to lack nurses and caregivers, 80% of whom are permanent.
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The French Hospital Federation (FHF) is sounding the alarm about staff shortages in public hospitals and nursing homes. “Almost all establishments are experiencing recruitment difficulties” nurses and nursing assistants “permanently or occasionally”according to a survey unveiled by the FHF, Wednesday, June 22.
The survey, conducted in April and May among more than 400 public hospitals and nursing homes, reveals that 99% of these establishments say they have difficulty recruiting, including 80.3% on a permanent basis. The pressure is particularly strong on “nurses and the night”who “seems to be the most complex period to organise”.
However, the workforce increased by 3% on average between 2019 and 2021 in public establishments, notes the FHF. But she adds that the proportion of vacancies among caregivers and nurses has not changed, due to the increase in demand for care in particular.
The situation in terms of non-medical human resources “has deteriorated the most” within hospitals (excluding CHU): the share of unfilled nursing positions doubled to reach 6.6% in April 2022, compared to 3% in 2019. Hospitals are in particular need of nurses, and nursing homes need caregivers. Geriatrics remains by far the sector that struggles the most to attract staff, followed by operating theatres, medicine (non-specialised services) and then psychiatry.
This lack of personnel is aggravated by absenteeism, which is stabilizing at a level “historically high”, according to the FHF. It estimates that this phenomenon affected 10% of nursing and nursing assistant positions in 2021, as in 2020, which “weakens the daily functioning of teams”. She also notes that “agents suspended for non-vaccination” represent only 0.3% of the staff and therefore cannot be considered as “a breeding ground”. The federation warns that“a difficult summer is looming”especially for “management of unscheduled care”.