EHPADs are running out of steam, we need to give them more resources and, above all, more staff. This is in essence the message from the CFDT Santé Sociaux, which organized a gathering in front of the Nexon EHPAD this Monday to alert people to the situation. This establishment is not particularly targeted, in fact the director himself came to support the demonstrators, but it is an entire system which is no longer able to cope with the needs, with 80% of Haut-Vienne establishments in deficit of several hundred thousand euros according to the union. David Combeau, caregiver and general secretary of the CFDT Santé Sociaux in Haute-Vienne denounces bad budgetary choices. “We are thinking about the deficit and not worsening the deficit, except that we have completely forgotten the health system.”
Not enough time to devote fully to the residents
The employees make it clear from the outset that they are not fighting for better pay. They just want to take care of their residents in good conditionsbut it's more and more difficult explains Edwige Dateu, night caregiver at the Nexon EHPAD. “When we return home and even have already passed the door of the EHPAD, we tell ourselves that we have done anything, because unfortunately we did not take the time. Because we cannot. “
One of the problems is that you have to juggle increasingly serious pathologies and in particular a growing number of residents suffering from dementia, specifies this caregiver. “With a demented resident, we will sometimes have to spend 20 to 30 minutes trying to calm a small crisis or something else. Obviously, this creates a gap in care and it also unfortunately creates a feeling of abandonment. We have even already had residents like that saying you forgot me.” The employees themselves end up forgetting themselves in the face of difficulties adds Edwige Dateu. “We take it upon ourselves, but at some point, by pulling on the rope, there are burnouts, stoppages and as a result, we find ourselves in a spiral.”
“A disaster-stricken sector” – Pierre-Jean Menou, director of the EHPADs of Nexon and Châlus
Pierre-Jean Menou, director of the Nexon and Châlus EHPADs, also deplores this situation and speaks of a “vicious circle” in a disaster area. “We are in just-in-time organizations which mean that when we have absenteeism, we are not always able to replace the big day, even if we strive to ensure the best quality of service, to do the best we can.” In this context, the director salutes the dedication of his teams and says he understands their action. He assures that “money has been put on the table by the authorities in recent years, in particular to improve salaries”but he also points to a structural problem, for many yearsin public health policies.
“The issues of aging were not taken into account early enough, so we have to find solutions. We have to project and see this wall with the baby boomers who are leaving for retirement and who will arrive in the establishments in a few years.” A major challenge, given that the CFDT therefore identifies 80% of EHPADs with a deficit of several hundred thousand euros each. That of Nexon has started to recover a little, but it has exhausted all its reserves and lacks visibility for the future. Impossible to be satisfied with this, conclude the director and employees, because the issue is the well-being of our elders. And ours in a few years.
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