Strike by hospital psychiatrists to denounce the deep crisis in the sector
Quick Look
Unions of hospital psychiatrists are calling for a strike this Thursday to denounce the deep crisis in the sector, marked by 30% vacant positions, 10,000 missing beds and hundreds of patients waiting in emergency rooms, despite the great national cause dedicated to mental health.
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Why It Matters
Despite the designation of mental health as a major national cause, the public psychiatric sector in France suffers from chronic understaffing, underfunding and deterioration of infrastructure, according to unions.
Despite the “great national cause” dedicated to mental health, it is not going well. The unions of hospital psychiatrists and public structures are therefore calling for a strike this Thursday to denounce the “deep crisis” in the sector, which is “getting worse”, in the absence of real political solutions.
Today, 30% of hospital psychiatrist positions and 15% of intern positions in psychiatry are not filled, there is a shortage of “10,000 hospitalization beds” and “hundreds of patients” referred to “remain several days in the emergency room” while waiting for a place, these organizations note. Among them are the Inter-Union for the Defense of Public Psychiatry (IDEPP), the Union of Public Psychiatrists (SPEP), the Union of Hospital Psychiatrists (SPH) and the Union of Psychiatry (USP).
A “weak progress” budget
Psychiatry also suffers from “the lowest budgetary progression” in “all medical disciplines” combined, intensifying the lack of “means, resources” and excessively low remuneration, these unions criticize. They still deplore the “glaring obsolescence of the premises and equipment”, to accommodate 480,000 patients in hospitals and 2 million in outpatient settings, in medical-psychological centers (CMP), whose waiting lists are exploding.
Despite these difficulties, public authorities are asking structures to take on more and more missions, such as the objective of putting an end to restraints by 2030, or the new “skip the line” for young people suffering from psychological distress reported by national education.
Request for an increase in places in psychiatry
In June, after an interministerial meeting on the major mental health issue, these unions said they were “dismayed” by the government’s “inconsistent responses”: “we found communication, vague promises, cosmetic or unrealizable measures, without additional resources,” they criticized. They demand, among other things, the “co-construction of a multi-year recovery plan for public psychiatry”, “the increase in income and recognition of the arduousness” of the profession, and a “significant increase in the capacity in beds and places”.
Our articles on Mental Health
A rally is planned this Thursday in front of the Ministry of Health at 11 a.m.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
A rally will take place on Thursday in front of the Ministry of Health at 11 a.m.
Very likely · Within days
Open Questions
- Will the government respond to union demands before Thursday's strike?
- What concrete measures will be taken to increase psychiatric reception capacity?
- How will the multi-year recovery plan demanded by the unions be financed?
