Insufficient Compensation for Healthcare Professionals Sacrificing Summer for Olympics, Says Union Spokesperson

“The remuneration of constraint is not up to the level”estimated the spokesperson for the National Union of Nursing Professionals Thierry Amouroux, invited Thursday October 26 on franceinfo, while the Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) will grant bonuses to caregivers who give up their vacation for be present and cope with the influx of visitors to the capital during the Olympic Games.

franceinfo: How much does the AP-HP offer?

Thierry Amouroux: For a nurse, it will be 1,200 euros gross while a doctor it will be 2,500 euros gross. This is like the vision we can have of professionals, with the feeling that the price of constraint varies, depending on whether you are a female nurse or a doctor.

Is it worth giving up on your summer vacation?

There is the need first to respond to a public health need and it is completely normal for health professionals to be there to respond to these needs. Indeed, there will be an increase in population during festive times which could degenerate on public roads and therefore the need for professionals to be there and for surgical and medical services to be able to follow. On the other hand, the remuneration for constraint is not up to par. Caregivers in Île-de-France, let’s not forget, are coming out of the Covid years and in 2020, 2021 and 2022, we have been more often in “Plan blanc” than in normal regime, synonymous with strong constraints on daybeds and annual leave.

Do you know how many AP-HP healthcare professionals are affected?

For the moment, we are talking about around 700 caregivers, 340 beds, four operating theaters, six SMUR lines and 60 particularly mobilized services. But apart from these arrowed points, inevitably, it will affect all the activity of hospitals in Île-de-France, not just those in the AP-HP, but those in the Paris suburbs overall. For example in 93, they will be strongly impacted.