The non-profit sector demonstrates this Tuesday in order to denounce in particular the shortage of personnel. Asked about La Première, the president of the National Federation of Belgian Nurses (FNIB) Dan Lecocq immediately recalls “the central role played by nursing professionals in our health care system: we support our fellow citizens from the cradle to the grave. Whether in nurseries, schools, hospitals, rest and care homes , prisons, on the street: nurses are everywhere to take care of the population. According to the WHO, they are the backbone of health care systems. And a backbone, we take care when one is a responsible manager”. But at the political level, we remain at the level of speeches, “we expect a real national plan of action, attractiveness and retention for the profession”.
Currently more than 2600 beds are closed in hospitals. There is a shortage of qualified personnel, the situation is serious in hospitals, but also in nursing homes and in the home care sector. “Reducing supply would be unbearable in a developed Western country. Nursing staff have been taking it upon themselves for a very, very long time to keep the machine running. Politicians rely on this commitment, but at some point the backbone will end up break”.
