The emergency department of Chiva is on indefinite strike. Caregivers can no longer work understaffed throughout the year. They ask management to strengthen their team. The staff of the Saint-Louis hospital, in Ax-les-Thermes, too.
The CGT has planted its red flags on all the posts of the parking lot of the Inter-municipal Hospital Center of the Ariège valleys (Chiva). The hospital emergency workers are on strike, gathered in front of the entrance hall. Caregivers and nurses can no longer work understaffed. “On May 21, we had two nurses off at the same time. Only one has been replaced. In addition, that day, teams from the Mobile Emergency and Resuscitation Service (SMUR) were mobilized. In this kind of situation, we can not get by and it is not new, laments Grégory Bonis, member of the CGT office of Chiva. This state of affairs has existed for years. “
CGT CHIVA MEETS TO SUPPORT EMERGENCY STRIKERS
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In the emergency room of Saint-Jean-de-Verges, out of the sixty-one caregivers, about forty are on strike. Mobilized, they ask for reinforcements, new caregivers to ensure during future passages. Like Christophe, caregiver and SMUR driver: “In 2020, we counted 34,487 passages. It was an exceptional year linked to the health crisis. We want new people on the emergency team. Including a full-time nurse and caregiver, a 12-hour night administrative agent to manage the reception of patients when they arrive at the emergency room, a full-time bio-cleaning agent as well as the creation of a stretcher station dedicated to the emergency department. “
Negotiations with the management of Chiva
The strikers have started discussions with the leadership of Chiva to find a solution. The director of the hospital center, Marie Dunyach, made several proposals to the employees: “We submitted the idea of strengthening the emergency team with a new nurse,” she explains. It would be present during the seasonal period, especially during school holidays. “However, the strikers are asking for more:” For us, we need full-time, not part-time. “
Head down, exhausted.
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For Marie Dunyach, the workforce remains in line with the number of people received: “We received the High Authority for Health. She concluded that there was no particular problem. But we are aware of a general fatigue within the team. “From next week, the strikers will be in the oven and in the mill to continue their discussion with the management.
“Applause to the crush”
52 km further south, health workers at Saint-Louis hospital – accompanied and supported by the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) – are also giving voice. Especially Rodolphe Jeannot, nurse in Ax-les-Thermes. Microphone in the right hand, the staff representative labeled CGT addresses around forty elected officials – including Dominique Fourcade, mayor of the city and Alain Naudy, both president of the “comcom” of Haute Ariège and member of the hospital supervisory board.
Rodolphe Jeannot facing elected officials and mobilized staff.
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“Exhausted” white coats are accompanied by families of residents or patients in front of the medical establishment. Their wish is to support health professionals. “We want to put pressure on the management (Alexandre Boitier) because the nursing home of the hospital lives in an emergency situation, continues Rodolphe Jeannot under a dazzling sun. The year 2020 was already terrible … The team held the shock until January 2021, when there was a cluster. Nine infected seniors have died … It has become difficult to provide for health needs properly. “
“We were crushed mentally and physically”
The situation is such that some staff have thought of leaving the hospital created in 1260. “I am at the point of wanting to leave my gown,” says Carole Djafarian, who has worked in Saint-Louis for 15 years. We all proudly chose our profession, but now I want to do something else. When I get home, I’m not happy. “Rodolphe Jeannot agrees:” We no longer accept to be mistreated and mistreated because the management does not give us the means. The resident must be the central place, but today he cannot find what he pays and expects from us. “
Residents of the nursing home “Le clos des bains” pointed the tip of their nose.
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The lines drawn, Rodolphe Jeannot testifies to the physical and mental fatigue of the teams of Saint-Louis: “We were crushed in all that, mentally and physically. It’s hard to wear and we don’t want to carry the backpack all by ourselves anymore. “And to continue:” If we are outside, it is because we have waited and perhaps too much. It’s now or never. Applause, we went to the crush. At the same time, two residents take their heads out of the nursing home “Le clos des bains”, which is part of the medico-social sector of the hospital (there is also a health sector, Editor’s note). A woman applauds, a man noisily shakes a stainless steel cup.
“We want to be heard, respected and valued”
At the center of the demands of the staff, mobilized during this day of strike and action: a new organization and a reinforced team (two nurses, a health officer, nursing aides, service agents and a physiotherapist) d ‘here the deadline of June 15. The CGT staff representative adds: “We are not asking for anything too much for now, just to replace those who have left. To this will be added the additional workforce. “
Fresh break.
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Mobilized in front of the Saint-Louis hospital, the caregivers repeat that they want “to be heard, respected and valued” in order to be able to ensure “the care and safety of residents and patients”. “We no longer want to close our eyes or ears,” continues Rodolphe Jeannot. Nor accept the financial strategy of the director, Mr. Boitier, to the detriment of benevolence and care. We want to be respected in order to respect the residents. For this, the nursing staff are ready to make the mobilization last. “If our demands are not heard in mid-June, rebelote! »Exclaims the determined staff representative. The audience applauds his conclusion.
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