In the palliative care unit at Eugénie hospital in Ajaccio, Corsica, April 23, 2020 (AFP/Archives/Pascal POCHARD-CASABIANCA)
Before the passage of the bill on the end of life on Wednesday in the Council of Ministers which opens the right to a controversial “assisted death”, the government has committed to providing a financial effort of 1.1 billion euros on ten years for palliative care.
“In 2034, we will have 2.7 billion euros devoted to supportive care. That is 1.1 billion more than today,” said the Minister of Health, Catherine Vautrin, on Saturday in an interview with World detailing the executive’s strategy on palliative care renamed “support”.
“We need to go further in the management of pain in its entirety and for all audiences, including children,” highlights Ms. Vautrin, who specifies that this government plan in favor of this care “figures partly in the bill on the end of life”.
“Before assisted dying, the French end-of-life model is first and foremost an ambitious policy of strengthening palliative care and support,” praised the minister.
“Before the adoption of assistance in dying, we will have already increased the offer of palliative care because our strategy is, within 10 years, to give a strong impetus, and this from the next three years”, promises the minister who is leading this key societal reform of Emmanuel Macron’s second five-year term.
– Increase in the number of patients –
Minister of Health Catherine Vautrin at the Elysée, in Paris, April 3, 2024 (AFP/Ludovic MARIN)
The end-of-life bill, which should open up the strictly regulated possibility of assisted suicide, will be presented to the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, with the executive demanding balance at the risk of disappointing supporters and opponents of aid to die.
“The bill will have a first part on supportive care, a second on the rights of patients and caregivers, and a third on assistance in dying,” explained Emmanuel Macron when he revealed the main points text in a cross-interview with Libération and La Croix almost a month ago.
Before the announcement of the 2024-2034 strategy for palliative care, based on an expert report led by Professor Franck Chauvin, the Minister of Health Catherine Vautrin several times mentioned major measures in sight: creation of 21 palliative care units in departments lacking them, “support houses”, to complete the system between hospital and home, or even the structuring of a university course on palliative care.
“The number of patients who will require palliative care will increase by 16% in ten years. We will increase the credits by 66%. The credits (social security) currently committed for palliative care are 1.6 billion d “euros. We plan for 1.1 billion more in ten years. And so we add new credits each year”, detailed Catherine Vautrin in her interview with Le Monde.
“To be precise, this will result in new measures financed to the tune of 100 million euros on average each year over the entire decade,” she added.
– Skepticism –
The President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron on March 5, 2024, in Paris (AFP/Ludovic MARIN)
The promise of an envelope of around a billion euros for the development of this care had already been displayed by Emmanuel Macron but in the eyes of opponents of the bill, “the account is not there”.
“Only one in two French people who need palliative care have real access to it (…) If we want everyone to be able to have access to palliative care, we should in theory double” the capacities, launched the MP LR and doctor Philippe Juvin to Catherine Vautrin on March 19 during questions to the government.
The availability of caregivers for palliative care is particularly in question while the hospital crisis persists.
To have palliative care units (USP) in all departments, to increase by 2025 from 1,540 to 1,760 hospital beds in PICU or to develop more mobile teams, it will be necessary to “plan for additional recruitment”, underlines Ms. Vautrin .
In a report published in July, the Court of Auditors highlighted that the provision of palliative care had increased in hospitals but that half of the patients concerned still did not have access to it, calling for “strengthening” resources at home. and in retirement homes.
© 2024 AFP
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