Supported by the unions, the nursing staff of two departments of the Toulouse University Hospital are sounding the alarm. An indefinite strike has been launched in the cardiology intensive care unit. And, in the psychiatric emergency room, the CGT is worried after a patient’s suicide attempt.
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A gathering takes place at noon, this January 15, 2025, in the hall of the Rangueil hospital of the Toulouse University Hospital. The nursing staff of the cardiology intensive care unit intend to highlight an indefinite strike movement that began on January 6. “The new management of the Toulouse University Hospital is on a mission: to remove what it considers useless!“, exclaims Victor Alava of Sud Santé Sociaux. At the heart of the protest: the elimination of reception positions for patients and their families.
At the Toulouse University Hospital, the reception and orientation of patients are missions carried out both at the entrance to the hospital and within the care units. But these positions are in the process of being eliminated, particularly in cardiology intensive care, according to the Sud Santé Sociaux union.
“This decision is totally counterproductive, dogmatic and out of placeaccording to Victor Alava. Indeed, without a reception agent, it is the healthcare team who will suffer, spending time doing this work. Time that nurses and caregivers will no longer spend with patients.“And the trade unionist details the missions of a reception agent: the physical reception of patients and families, the constitution, the management of patient files, the management of telephone calls, the management of available places and transfers of patients… Missions which are not trivial.
Welcoming patients is one of the foundations of care. And the hospital is not a factory.
Victor Alava from Sud Santé Sociaux at Toulouse University Hospital
The management of the Toulouse University Hospital refutes the idea of a systematic elimination of these reception positions. Regarding the cardiology intensive care unit, she mentions “a project to redistribute missions is underway, in anticipation of the upcoming retirement of the agent who occupies this position.“It is a question of adjustments in the organization and in no way a questioning of the importance of the reception missions.
Another sector suffering: psychiatry. After two sexual assaults and a suicide in the psychiatric emergencies of Toulouse University Hospital at the start of 2024, an investigation was opened at the request of the Minister of Health. And a pact to refound psychiatry in Haute-Garonne was signed in January 2025. But for the CGT, “the account is not there“.
Also read: Safety in psychiatric emergencies, opening of beds: avenues considered to improve the care of patients with mental disorders
“Between the objectives displayed in the document and the reality on the ground experienced by patients and caregivers, there is a gulf. The latest illustration of this sad observation dates from this Sunday, January 5, 2025 when a patient attempted suicide at the psychiatry consultation“, denounces the union.
This latest incident occurred early in the evening. “UThe patient was admitted to the adult emergency room in Purpan where he was immediately taken care of by a reception and orientation nurse. The patient was then taken to the psychiatric emergency room.specifies the Toulouse University Hospital. A few minutes after his arrival in the unit, the team noticed his disappearance and immediately began a search. The patient was found in cardiorespiratory arrest five minutes later, after a suicide attempt.“This patient is still hospitalized in the intensive care unit.
The measures taken after these repeated tragedies and incidents by the management of the CHU and the ARS are not up to par, according to the CGT. “Removal of the Buzyn bonus, hasty move for work which would pose serious security problems…“The union evokes”arbitrary and unjust measures which add to the trauma already experienced by caregivers who have no other choice than to flee.“Twelve psychiatric nursing staff are reportedly leaving today, according to the union which is calling for the strengthening of the CHU’s psychiatry teams.
For its part, the Toulouse University Hospital says it has made 1,500 recruitments in 2024 and has created more than 500 positions since 2019 in its various services and care units.
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