It's a first. On Tuesday, January 30, the staff of the retirement homes are called to strike by seven unions (CGT, CFDT, FO, UNSA, CFTC, CFE-CGC and SUD) with the support of the Association of Directors for the elderly ( AD-PA). Walkouts in institutions and gatherings are planned throughout France, including one in front of the Ministry of Health in Paris. It is not expected that union representatives will be received.

It has been several months since they sounded the alarm about the deterioration of working conditions in nursing homes for dependent elderly people (Ehpad), and consequently the degradation of the support of residents. The latter come to an institution that is getting older, with more and more physical disabilities and psychic disorders. The staff is not enough or prepared enough.

"We come to the end"

"We have to do 12 to 15 toilets every morning, testified Sandrine Ossart, a health care aide in a Nantes Ehpad and CGT activist, the first union in the sector, on Thursday at a press conference. To get up, get dressed and put in the chair, we have ten minutes. At school we needed forty. Mixed foods are served because things are going faster. Residents do not go out anymore. They do their needs in their protections because we do not have time to accompany them to the toilet. "

Read also:   Nursing homes, "grinding machines" of nursing staff

The first claim of the movement is the increase of the rate of supervision in Ehpad. Variable by institution, today it is on average 6 caregivers for 10 residents. The unions are calling for one-for-one (or 10 carers for every 10 residents). Today, one third of the establishments do not have a coordinating doctor. "It's just illegal! " says Jean-Paul Zerbib, on behalf of the CFE-CGC.

"Ehpad bashing"

The institutional funding reform, passed under the previous five-year period and implemented by the government, is also in the spotlight. "This is to take at least the poor, who have a framing ratio of 7 to 10, to give to the poorest, who are at 5.5," rebels Pascal Champvert, president of the AD-PA. The unions are also calling for a reinforcement of the attractiveness of the trades in the sector, which is struggling to recruit.

Health Minister Agnès Buzyn has been trying for several days to extinguish the fire. She was raised on Friday during a visit to a relatively well-endowed property in Chevreuse (Yvelines), against a "Ehpad bashing" which points out dysfunctions. "I do not want to deny them, but they are not generalities", she said, announcing the launch of a satisfaction survey in Ehpad, as it exists at the hospital.

Fifty million additional euros

M^me Buzyn also committed itself to ensuring that the pricing reform does not lead to "No reduction of positions". A mediator will be appointed to monitor his implementation. The minister recalled that the resources allocated to the Ehpad have been increased by 100 million euros in the 2018 budget of the Social Security, including 72 million euros to create care positions, and 28 million for institutions in difficulty. An additional envelope of 50 million euros was announced for them, Thursday. In vain, the call for mobilization has been maintained.

These measures are qualified by the trade unions "Little things" and of " provocation " according to needs. "This is not a problem that concerns only a few institutions in difficulty, but the fate that the nation wants to reserve for its elders"says Jean-Claude Stutz, Deputy National Secretary of UNSA Health-Social. A comprehensive reform of the sector's financing demanded by the unions has been announced by several successive governments, but has never been achieved.