Action plan measures for pediatrics “are welcome, we have been heard, but we need perspectives”, declared Monday, October 24 on franceinfo Rémi Salomon, president of the Medical Commission for the establishment of the Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), president of the Conference of PCMEs of the CHUs of France. The government announced on Sunday the release of 150 million euros for pediatric emergencies, after the cry of alarm launched by thousands of caregivers.
franceinfo: Does this plan respond to the urgency of the situation?
Remi Solomon: This is already a first step. It is good that the government has heard the call of paediatricians. This will probably make it possible to better remunerate those who work on call at night, on weekends. Pediatricians expect more lasting things.
“This sum will be welcome to cope with in the coming weeks, but for the long term we must recognize the hardship of the work.”
Rémi Salomon, AP-HPat franceinfo
It’s not just paediatrics, tensions are all year round in all disciplines. We are in a permanent crisis. We have reduced the number of nurses in the departments and this has ended up causing working conditions which have become difficult and caregivers feel that they are not doing their job properly.
Was the 2022 Ségur de la santé useless?
It has made it possible to raise the value quite significantly and to make up for part of the delay in wages. Nurses were among the lowest paid in OECD countries. We’re barely average, so we could do better. But what the Ségur has not done is recognize the work of those who are in the hospital at night, on weekends and on public holidays. It was no better with the Social Security funding bill. So the measures are welcome, we have been heard, but we need perspectives.
Do medical deserts have an impact on hospitals?
Sure. These are other causes, it’s not just a question of budget, these are decisions that were made 25 years ago. It will take time, we will retrain doctors. It is necessary to go up the slope and in the meantime, to work more with the paramedics, to coordinate the care in town and at the hospital.