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The FHF, French Hospital Federation, is sounding the alarm: according to a survey of 400 public establishments, almost all of them lack caregivers and fail to recruit. The summer promises to be difficult.
Almost 100% of public hospitals and nursing homes in France report a lack of caregivers and nurses. This is the alarming finding that emerges from a survey conducted by the Fédération Hospitalière de France in April and last May on 400 public establishments. “Almost all establishments are experiencing recruitment difficulties on an ad hoc or permanent basis” develops Frédéric Valletoux, president of the FHF. The pressure is all the more strong on the positions of nurses and nights who do not find takers.
Disinterest and absenteeism complicate the deal
It is in hospitals, excluding CHU, that the situation in terms of non-medical human resources “deteriorated the most“notes the survey, with in particular a doubling of unfilled nursing positions (6.6% in April 2022 against 3% in 2019).
The nursing homes are sorely lacking in nursing assistants. Among the positions not arousing enthusiasm, geriatrics remains by far the sector that struggles the most, followed by operating theaters, medicine (non-specialized services) then psychiatry.
Added to this is absenteeism “historically high”, about 10% of nursing and nursing assistant positions since 2019, further weakening an already precarious functioning. However, the survey reveals that this cannot be blamed on vaccination and tensions among caregivers: “Agents suspended for non-vaccination represent only 0.3% of staff and cannot therefore be considered as a “pool”” specifies the survey.
10 years of degradation: the FHF wants more concrete on the ground
The observation of Frédéric Valletoux, president of the Fédération Hospitalière de France is bitter and calls for concrete actions, not just discussions: “The survey we conducted confirms the feelings we have been hearing for several weeks: in an already difficult context, a very large majority of establishments are still encountering structural recruitment difficulties. Even if the numbers have been able to increase for three years, even if the Ségur has been a first response to stabilize the crisis, the results of ten years of deterioration in the situation of the public hospital are before us. These observations are in line with the reforms that we have been proposing for a long time: the conference of stakeholders announced by the President must absolutely be an opportunity, not to make diagnoses, but to discuss concrete and appropriate responses to the heterogeneity situations on the ground”.