During the Covid crisis, they were among the professionals on the front line... But today, liberal nurses believe that they are the forgotten ones at Ségur de la Santé.
In recent days, the union collective of Angry Liberal Nurses has launched a national call for mobilization.
If several snail operations or gatherings took place this weekend, the movement should intensify this Monday and continue in the coming days.
This Monday, slowdowns or demonstrations are planned in Bouches-du-Rhône, Nice, Dijon, Marseille and even Bordeaux.
Bayonne@franceinfo pic.twitter.com/nGh79zHGoq
— Angry Liberal Nurses (@Idelencolere) February 11, 2024
At the origin of this discontent, liberal nurses believe that they have been the “forgotten ones” of Ségur de la santé.
Starting, according to them, with the absence of revaluation of medical nursing procedures since 2009 while inflation has been galloping.
According to calculations by the Angry Liberal Nurses collective, nurses are paid on average 6 to 9 euros gross per hour, significantly less than the gross hourly minimum wage which is 11.65 euros.
They are asking for at least a revaluation in line with inflation so as not to see their purchasing power plummet.
Demonstration of liberal nurses on the A68.
Care which has not been upgraded since 2009. An hourly rate lower than the minimum wage for 12-hour days.
More than 150 kilometers per day, and compensation which only increases by 25 cents.
Etc.
Our caregivers deserve better!
pic.twitter.com/xBpliTbYf5
— Anne Stambach (@Anne_Stambach) February 7, 2024
According to them, with the increase in transport costs, nurses want the transport allowance to be doubled, which is currently 2.50 euros.
In another register, this movement also calls for retirement at 62 (compared to 67 currently), and “recognition of the arduousness” of their work, which sometimes requires heavy loads to be carried, extended hours to visit all patients, departures on vacation which may be disrupted while a replacement is found to ensure continuity of care.
For some patients, the visit of nurses is also an opportunity to receive additional help to put on compression stockings and make other dressings.
The problem is that all these “small” practical acts are free because they fall outside the Social Security nomenclature.
For their part, patients believe that these services are paid and therefore do not hesitate to request these services.
This arduousness or even this lack of revaluation pushes, according to the collective of numerous firms, more than half, to close their doors within five years after opening.