The group of angry liberal nurses sends a list of demands to the President of the Republic. Between revaluation of fees and pensions, caregivers lift the veil on the suffering that reigns in the profession.
They’ve been taking it in silence for years, but now liberal nurses are speaking out and they’re angry. This is also the name of the non-union collective formed at the end of January by several groups of caregivers. They are already nearly 10,000 to take part in the cause on social networks and the virtual organization has already carried out concrete actions directly addressed to the President of the Republic. Since Monday, February 6, the Angry Nurses have been sending their care sheets every day “to alert the government to our situation, […] to be heard and show that we are there”, launches Gaëlle Cannat, liberal nurse and administrator of the collective in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, contacted by Internet user.
The angry Nurses also came forward to local elected officials, deputies and senators to recall their “feeling that nothing is being done for [leur] profession” and their “feeling of having been forgotten”. For them, who were presented as heroes during the health crisis, the post-covid period “was a cold shower” according to Gaëlle Cannat.
What do Angry Medics demand?
The list of demands is long and above all, it is not new. The liberal nurses insist on obtaining a revaluation of fees and allowances which is becoming urgent after ten years have passed without the tariff of medical acts having been reassessed. Added to these financial difficulties is the subject of pensions. With or without reform, the liberal nurses, for the majority, obtain a full pension at… 67 years old, despite extended hours and almost daily physical effort.
“Correctly” paid medical acts
In times of inflation, the revaluation of fees becomes urgent and necessary according to the collective, in particular on the basic acts “which are those which the population needs – injections, dressings, etc. – and which are not paid correctly. “, judges the liberal nurse in Aix-en-Provence. With current prices that offer a blood test at €6.75, a bandage at €6.5 and an intramuscular injection at €4.5, “when we give an injection, we don’t have much left”, regrets Gaëlle Cannat, who recalls that “half of these gross prices go into the charges”.
If the Angry Liberal Nurses collective has not joined a union, some proposals from the Convergence Nurse federation go in its direction. The union demands in particular the holding of new agreements to reassess the “ridiculous” fees. At what prices? €10 for blood tests, €8 for dressings and €6 for intramuscular injections.
A revaluation of the travel allowance of €2.5
“There are liberal nurses for whom it becomes very complicated to refuel”, warns Gaëlle Cannat, pointing to the allowance of 2.5€ supposed to cover the cost of a car trip. A level so low that some patients “can no longer find nurses to give them their injections or remove stitches because it is not paid enough”. “It’s unfortunate, but for some nurses who travel far, sometimes the question arises” is forced to note with regret the caregiver.
These social and financial demands bother the representative of the collective in PACA: “We have the impression of only asking for money but what we want is to be able to take care of people properly. When we see in what state are the EHPAD, I prefer that people are at home and that we can take care of them.
And on pensions?
Whether the pension reform is adopted or not, liberal nurses will, for the most part, have to wait until they are 67 to benefit from a full-rate departure, having most often started a career around 21 years old. The text under study in the Assembly at the moment should not change much. However, “we work early in the morning, late in the evening. We meet all the conditions to be recognized as a painful profession, but this is not the case”, still regrets the liberal nurse.
Will the Angry Nurses go on strike?
After the letter-writing operation, the collective hopes to receive a response from the government. But if the executive remains silent, caregivers do not rule out tougher actions. Strikes ? No. Held by the permanence of care, the liberal nurses do not have the right to strike explains Gaëlle Cannat. On the other hand, discussions are underway to organize the continuation of the movement. Still, driven by their vocation, the nurses assure that “our patients will not be hostages to our actions, that’s for sure”.