Reform of the medical interim: the government is backing down – archyworldys

There are times when the remedy appears worse than the disease. In the hospital, the supervision of the “medical interim” is one of them. How to stop this phenomenon of temporary doctors paid by hospitals at rates much higher than the practitioners in post, to fill the increasingly gaping holes in certain services, without putting the establishments in difficulty? The government, which had planned to put an end to the abuses of this system at the end of October, finally backtracked.

In July 2020, the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, had promised to attack directly those he calls the “Mercenaries” of the hospital, by strictly capping their salaries. The measure, supported by the hospital community, has been included in the law to improve the health system promulgated in April, for application scheduled for October 27.

There is no longer any question of exceeding, for these doctors recruited through temporary agencies or “over-the-counter” by the establishments, the ceiling of 1,170 euros gross for twenty-four hours of on-call – or around 950 euros net -, under penalty of seeing the public accountant reject the payment, and the regional health agency seize the administrative court in the event of higher remuneration observed. A ” nuclear weapon “, according to the expression of a hospital director, to enforce a rule already instituted by a decree of 2017, but so far not respected in the establishments.

The Minister of Health, who already denounced, in a report in 2013, as a socialist deputy, these temporary workers and their additional cost for the hospital – ie 6,000 doctors, for a budget estimated at 500 million euros – thus promised to move up a gear.

But, a few days before this deadline, the scenario of government retreat is confirmed. From October 12, questioned by several deputies extremely worried about the future of their hospitals, the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, had started the reverse, by giving fifteen days to Olivier Véran to “Adapt the reform in a very pragmatic way”.

Health context

Thursday, October 21, it is now acted: “The strict application of the reform” will take place “As soon as possible in 2022”, announces the Ministry of Health, by press release. It is “Take into account the current context, with in particular a health and hospital situation marked by months of mobilization to fight against the Covid”. A mapping work of the medical interim on the territory will begin, on October 27, specifies Olivier Véran, who will receive all the actors at the beginning of the week.

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