“This is a good thing” but it was not “the real expectation” caregivers, comments the spokesperson for the national union of nursing professionals (SNPI) Thierry Amouroux, Saturday March 26 on franceinfo. “The real expectation of caregivers was rather the recognition as an occupational disease of the 140,000 caregivers who were contaminated by Covid-19”, he added.
franceinfo: Do you welcome the State’s decision to give the honorary status of “death for the service of the Republic” to caregivers who died of Covid-19 since January 1, 2020?
Thierry Amouroux: This is a good thing for the 19 families concerned, it is also an important signal sent to caregivers, but the real expectation of caregivers was rather the recognition as an occupational disease of the 140,000 caregivers who were infected with Covid-19, especially during the first wave, when we found ourselves faced with a lack of material. For lack of masks, gloves, with garbage bags as an overcoat, many of us were contaminated.
We committed ourselves without counting the cost, but the government refused recognition as an occupational disease to these 140,000 caregivers and only granted it to those who had been placed on oxygen therapy, which means that at the end of 2021, Health Insurance had only recognized 1,690 caregivers with occupational disease out of 140,000 infected. For us, it’s a bit like the tree that hides the forest.
What would recognition of the occupational disease change among these 140,000 caregivers who had Covid-19?
This is something important because 10% to 15% of people with Covid-19 are in Covid-long. However, recognition as an occupational disease allows better coverage of costs by health insurance, better daily allowances and possibly the allocation of compensation in the event of permanent incapacity. But it is always the same logic of economy. It’s a real concern.
Just as we are faced today with the fact that there are always savings plans for hospitals, bed closures and job cuts. There is a continuous deterioration in the working conditions of caregivers, an increase in the care load, rest reminders, an increase in overtime… For example, at the AP-HP, there are 2.5 million overtime worked by caregivers in 2021. It must be understood that caregivers are exhausted by these two years and see that the software has not changed, whereas we really thought there would be a world after, at least for health, and that we would have more means to work, which is not the case unfortunately.
Finally, this honorary status, like the various gestures of the State, in particular via the Ségur de la Santé, are not enough to make people forget these two years of health crisis?
Yes, we really have to come back and review the workload, the ratio, the number of people treated by caregivers. Internationally, the standards are more like six to eight patients per nurse, in France we are more like 12 or 15 patients per nurse. And it’s even worse in Ehpad where there are half as many as in Germany.