Nurses on strike in the UK, what about in France?

in collaboration with

Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)

Unprecedented situation in 106 years, this is the first time that nurses have gone on strike in the United Kingdom, Wales and Northern Ireland. Insufficient salary, lack of staff, post-Covid wear and tear: here are some of their demands. Thus, the English nurses have planned to be on strike on December 15 and 20.

Wage demands

This unprecedented movement will bring together a large number of nurses, up to 100,000 if we are to believe their union, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). The reason ? Dissatisfaction linked to their remuneration, which is too low in the face of the soaring cost of living, but also the crisis experienced by the English public system.

The nurses are therefore asking for an increase in their salary of around 20% to make up for the drop in their purchasing power of 20% since 2010 and the arrival of the Conservatives in power. A request considered “unaffordable” by the current government, while the English people seem to support nurses.

Nurses who “struggle to feed their families”

According to the representatives of the nurses, the latter “skip meals, struggle to feed and clothe their families and end up leaving the National Health Service en masse“, leaving a “greater pressure on those who remain“.

According to Dr Gérald Kierzek, emergency doctor and medical director of Doctissimo, it is the same thing in France. “The salaries of nurses are low and among the lowest in Europe, just look at the average salaries elsewhere and the OECD rankings which reflect this. At some point, you have to raise salaries, it’s also what keeps the staff. In large cities and in particular in Paris, nurses have difficulty finding accommodation. So they are in the same situation as the English nurses, to whom I give my support”.

Recruitment planned for 2023

In France, Nicolas Revel, boss of the AP-HP, announced on Tuesday December 13 that he wanted to recruit 2,300 nurses next year, or 20% more than this year. A figure that remains low compared to 2,800 departures. Indeed, in four years, the nursing workforce has shrunk by 10%, or 1,700 unfilled positions, while the proportion of closed beds has doubled by 16% (nearly 2,000). To counter this, Nicolas Revel rightly mentioned the fact “to improve working conditions“. For “to make people want to come to the AP-HP and stay there” he explained at the microphone of France Inter.

No salary increase but benefits

The boss of the AP-HP will not act on salaries, he nevertheless intends to double the allocation of social housing, from 600 to 1,200 per year, and to let the 800 services decide on their organization.

Finally, benefits such as restaurant tickets, transport reimbursed at 100% or 600 “ptechnical and administrative posts“created in services for “relieve the staff”are also mentioned by Nicolas Revel.