It was urgent to extinguish the fire. Children’s health is a sensitive subject and Emmanuel Macron, through his Minister of Health François Braun, wanted to quickly respond to the petition signed by more than 6,000 caregivers on the difficulties of pediatrics. But the announcements – 150 million euros “in particular” for services specializing in the care of children and possible white plans – are above all likely to stir up anger.
The white plans consist of imposing overtime on caregivers or asking them to go back on their leave. They will comply, but how many will then see it as one more reason to jump ship? As for the sums released, no one knows at this stage how much will go to paediatrics. “We put the teams in competition with each other, it’s unbearable”, confided, annoyed, the manager of a Parisian pediatric intensive care unit.
The funds will be used above all to finance replacements, overtime and one-off bonuses, when caregivers ask for structural measures: permanent bonuses, salary increases, staff ratios respected, attractive careers, recognition of night work and specific skills… So many subjects referred to later consultations. At the risk of seeing the situation of pediatrics continue to deteriorate, when, very often, no structure other than the hospital can take over.