French unions representing psychiatrists strike for better hospital conditions

French hospital psychiatrists went on strike today, Tuesday, over what they say is a lack of state support for their profession. Unions representing them claim a lack of beds, regular closures of specialised centers due to lack of staff and difficult working conditions are leading to a breakdown of the entire system.

A patient with mental disorders sits on a chair in her room at The Ville-Evrard Psychiatric Hospital in Saint-Denis, north of Paris on November 3, 2020. AFP - CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT

Four unions representing the workers are protesting outside the Ministry of Health in Paris.

Demonstrations have also been organised in other cities in front of regional health agencies (ARS) and hospitals.

The unions  have condemned what they describe as the "abandonment of public psychiatry" in France, which they say is characterised by a lack of hospital beds and regular closures of medico-psychological centers (CMP).

This is linked to the shortage of doctors and nurses, which affects five out of six hospitals, according to an inter-union statement.

Recruitment difficulties

"We no longer have the capacity to treat patients as we would like," Dr. Norbert Skurnik, president of the the group of unions representing  the profession (IDEPP), told  the French news agency AFP.

He says that in the Paris region alone, "60,000 to 70,000 people, of whom at least 60 percent are mentally ill, are left to their own devices due to the lack of proper facilities". 

This branch of medicine is also struggling to attract young doctors, he added.

To promote recruitment, he suggests an increase of "20 to 25 percent" in the salaries of hospital psychiatrists, in the form of "hardship" bonuses.

Le SPH présent en nombre #29novembre #psyurgence @ActionPratHopit pic.twitter.com/iZfV3obnQb

— SPH (@SPHtweeter) November 29, 2022

Dialogue needed

Fourteen months ago, French President Emmanuel Macron held a major consultation with the psychiatric sector and announced the creation of 800 positions in the CMPs.

But the plan is considered insufficient by the profession.

"It's only a small step," Dr. Rachel Bocher, president of the National Intersyndicate of Hospital Exercise Practitioners (INPH) told AFP, adding that it is important to also have "a plan for the attractiveness of careers" in this field.

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"Public authorities need to resume social dialogue with psychiatrists," she said.

The Minister of Health, François Braun had recognized that "psychiatric personnel work in difficult conditions", and told Senators mid-November that a report would be presented soon, based on the meetings held in September 2021.