The executive has decided to get its hands on the wallet. On Monday, February 6, the government will table an amendment to the amending Social Security financing bill to increase the hospital budget by 600 million euros in 2023. “I will propose an amendment on behalf of the government to increase the hospital budget. hospital of 600 million euros in 2023”, declared the Minister Delegate for Public Accounts Gabriel Attal on RTLa few hours before the opening of the debates in the Assembly on this text which houses the pension reform.
Faced with a system “out of breath” by the government’s own admission, the site is substantial with overwhelmed emergencies coupled with a glaring lack of personnel, against the backdrop of a triple winter epidemic of Covid-19, flu and bronchiolitis. At the end of 2022, the emergency services of the Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris were overwhelmed and deprogramming was once again necessary. Proof of a health system out of breath, there are 150 people who died “for lack of care” in emergencies in France, in December 2022. This figure taken up by Philippe Juvin, LR deputy for Hauts-de-Seine and professor of medicine, has been confirmed by the editorial staff The Express.
And the tensions are palpable in the corridors of hospitals. On January 4, the second hospital public service union, FO-Santé, called for an “unlimited strike” from January 10, denouncing the “extremely degraded situation” in the sector and the “inaction” of the government. According to a survey by the French Hospital Federation, conducted in April and May 2022, 99% of public establishments are encountering difficulties, due to a lack of sufficient staff. Another worrying trend: since 2013 the number of full hospital beds has continued to fall, falling from just over 413,000 to nearly 387,000 in 2020), but the health crisis seems to have accelerated the dynamic.
“The President of the Republic has announced strong measures for the hospital […] You know that, in particular for night work, there were increases for health personnel […] The President of the Republic announced that we were going to extend them”, added Gabriel Attal. Emmanuel Macron had unveiled in early January a reorganization of the hospital and measures to facilitate access to care. In a speech of nearly an hour, the president had announced his roadmap. Among his promises, that of accelerating the recruitment of medical assistants. “We already have 4,000, it’s a real success,” he said. he underlined. The stated objective is now to be at “10,000” by the end of the year. This measure will also be applicable to the hospital.
Emergency measures to bandage a system out of breath
On top of that, the president had said that, by the end of 2023, the 600,000 people with a chronic illness without a primary care physician will be offered one. Failing that, they will have access to “a treatment team” of caregivers from various disciplines. The government had also announced the “exit of fee-for-service” in hospitals from the next Social Security budget. Initiatives rather well received in the hospital environment. “There are other measures that will support caregivers, in particular who work at night,” said Gabriel Attal.
The kick-off of the debates on the amending social security financing bill will be given this Monday afternoon, in a hemicycle which promises to be packed for this text which houses the postponement from 62 to 64 years of the legal retirement age. “It’s a financial text on the Social Security budget, so there are other topics that will be discussed,” said Gabriel Attal to explain the amendment to the hospital budget. Asked about the financing of this measure, he specified that the public deficit target for the year 2023 remained at 5% of GDP and that the government had kept the “possibility, in particular on the hospital budget of ‘increase engagement’ after the president’s announcements. “We had taken this into account in the forecasts we made,” said the minister.
At the end of November, François Braun, the Minister of Health, had already put on the table an extension of 543 million euros for the hospital for 2022, which came “in addition to the 570 million already announced to deal with the bronchiolitis epidemic”. Emergency measures which occurred while health establishments were operating at a tight flow, in the face of the triple epidemic. For now, these dressings have not been enough to quickly recruit the staff needed to reopen beds. “Under these conditions, we can always add 10 or 15 billion per year: this money will not solve any fundamental problem. The hospital needs a overhaul, a radical administrative simplification”, analyzed the economist Nicolas Bouzou in The Express last September.