Chronic ills of France’s Health Ministry: Entire system ‘must be rebuilt’ under stable leadership
now it’s been four years since the French government launched a plan to revitalize the health care sector some changes include things like more pay have been made but as our Delano dza reports now France’s Public Health sector is still far from being in good shape itself this was the height of the covid-19 pandemic in France each night at 8:00 p.m. lockdown residents across the country applauded healthcare workers after years of austerity cuts the sector had been buckling under the weight of the Corona virus pandemic a shortage of surgical masks gloves and personal protective equipment highlighted The Bleak state of French Healthcare it was a grim reality which forced the government to act we need to and want to go quickly looking at all the shortfalls the calendar is tight French healthcare workers were feted on the national stage in 2020 and were honored during the 14th of July celebrations but after months of grueling work during the first covid wave medical staff wanted the Applause to cease and the government’s action to start after holding consultations with Professionals in the sector the government announced an overhaul to public Healthcare among the pledges made was A1 19 billion Euro investment which included taking on 13 billion e in debt from public health institutions the hiring of 15,000 personnel as well as the allocation of 8.2 billion to boost pay there are demands which exist and are legitimate which we need to listen to while the mhor government continues to meet Hospital staff to learn how conditions can be improved nurses and healthcare workers faced with an increasing workload and low pay continue to leave the sector unmas today we’re asking ourselves questions if it’s worth sacrificing our personal lives for this job which we all love but can we in a few years continue to do this beautiful job we don’t know despite this shared sentiment the government insists Public Health remains indispensable our hospitals and our health workers are a National Treasure while doctors in French public hospitals admit there has been a slight Improvement to working conditions and pay they say the government’s goal of making the sector desirable in the face of competition from private institutions remains over ambitious and is unlikely to happen overnight Now France 24 did attempt to reach out to the health ministry here in France to find out how much money had been poured into public health as well as to gauge how many new recruits have been hired we have not received a response at the time that that report went to air well we’re going to talk more about the healthc care here in France now with Dr Philipe amuel who’s a public health professor at the University Hospital in the northern French town of Le Philip thank you so much for taking the time to speak to us four years ago tomorrow May 3rd that marks the end of the lockdown in France now before we talk about the healthcare situation today what are your memories of that time oh that was one of my best time at the hospital I must say because everybody was working together um the hospitals lessen to what the physician says because we don’t know how to do anything and it was a great times and we saw that all this could um give uh a momentum that could allow a new organizations of the Health Care system in France we had some project some elements but really not enough so here we are four years later I mean you’re talking about that momentum did these promises for reform actually come to fruition are things better today oh not not so much unfortunately we had some progressions especially with what happened during the covid and the lockdown but as you so probably in France we had five Ministry of else during that time during the last six years which is not enough to build up a new politics in health care so we have three major problems one major problems is the availability of Human Resources uh to take in charge the healthare system so that’s the first what are the other two the other two is the organization of the public hospital um some of the hospitals are very old um people have a differential in salaries which is very large with the private sector uh they are working hours and hours especially our resident and we heard the resident presenting there and they are just questioning uh their motivations to go forward as a medical uh professional and that’s that’s a big risk the third one is the State of Mind of the populations and not sure that the French populations as is really aware that we are going through this crisis we are just imagining that they just have to take their phones call their GPS and come to the hospitals it’s not anymore possible because of the lack of availability of human resources for for the Healthcare System okay there’s a lot to unpack there let’s start with the money I mean money is always a bit of a taboo subject particularly in France but just to give our viewers an idea one kidney specialist we spoke to in the public sector says makes about €4,000 a month but that in the private sector in France he would make five times that much perhaps 20,000 I mean I hate to be crash but but given those numbers why would anyone stay in the public sector I stay in the public sector for other reasons because for the interest of the works because you have some quality of works you see different things uh to do this uh to have these high salaries it’s more would I say rentability um you need to have written an investment very quickly for the clinics and you never precisely do what you need and what the patients exactly need so that’s a limitation and that’s one of the motivations the second motivations is to teach you need to have education of these Physicians and it’s only in the public sector of course some private sectors are participating on the Practical positions but uh all the theoretical elements and the research are done on the public side so these are the different motivations in not the money then let’s talk a bit more about the resources the human resources like you said I mean we know that there are these what they call in French Desert Medical these medical deserts and one part of this healthc care puzzle is is how hard it is to become a doctor in France there are certain quotas for the number of medical students who can even become doctors what’s been done to increase those numbers to get those doctors in place just to give you an idea um in the early 70s uh we France produce about 12,000 to 13,000 new physician each year um at the end of the last century it was only 3,500 each year now with the new government the last government sorry we are back to the 12,000 to 13,000 uh new Physicians but to have a Physicians you need about 15 years to have a physician which is really operational so actually the lack of Human Resources is links to 10 or 15 years ago where we reduce the government reduced significantly the number of of Physicians and now we’ll have let’s say a hole that will last about five or 10 years where it will be very difficult to have new physician Philip we only just have a few minutes left just for you what is really the key issue the thing that the government still needs to fix to get the Health Care system in France back on track I think you need to discuss more continuously with the Physicians with the nurses with all the staff involved in health care that’s very important they will not find Solutions uh immediately we need to work together we need also to work and educate better the populations especially for all the question of the emergency which is now the limitations in the system actually and then to build up a new healthare system I think we’ll not find any satisfying Solutions with one or three or measures or even new billions of Euros uh because it’s a whole system we have to rebuild now and unfortunately with a Ministry of Health lasting about one and a half year it’s very difficult to build up such a system like that right so you think we just need to have a stronger Health Ministry perhaps and then things might get back on track yeah not not necessarily stronger but he can give him that the government giveing more times to develop his hypothesis and his models all right Philip thank you so much for taking the time to speak to us Dr Philip amoel speaking to me from Leo in northern France thank you
Delano D’Souza reports on the French government’s years-long attempt to revitalize the healthcare sector. And while they are gaining some ground, the French Ministry of Labor, Health and Solidarity has a long way to go before getting a clean bill of health. For in-depth analysis and a deeper perspective on France’s ailing health system, FRANCE 24’s Genie Godula is joined by Dr. Philippe Amouyel, Physician, Professor of Public Health at the University Hospital of Lille and Director of the Alzheimer’s Foundation.
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1 comment
They need to pay way more into NATO