"Applauded in May, in police custody in June": in June 2020, the caregivers had let their anger burst out. 8 months later, and while the nurse symbol of the movement is being judged, the nursing staff still do not feel listened to.
On June 16, 2020, demonstrations by caregivers are taking place across France. In Paris, the demonstration is marked by violent clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement. Images of some of those arrested are circulating in the media. This is the case of Farida, a 50-year-old nurse, arrested for throwing projectiles at the CRS. The video where we see this woman with the face in blood overpowered by CRS in armor strikes. Her trial opens Monday, February 22, 2021. She faces three years in prison and a € 45,000 fine, for "contempt", "rebellion" and "violence against a person holding public authority". Its supporters denounce a disproportionate reaction and more broadly, the government's failure to listen to healthcare workers.
A context of anger against the government, in the midst of the corovavirus crisis
During the broadcast of this video, two camps split in public opinion. Those who severely condemn the nurse for her behavior towards law enforcement. And those who denounce a violent arrest, with a disproportionate use of force, on the part of CRS in armor facing a woman in a white blouse measuring 1.55 meters.
What the nurses' support also highlights is, at the time of the facts, the extreme weariness of the caregivers, who chained the working hours, sometimes catching the virus themselves and seeing a number of their patients die. The demonstrators are then at their end. In June 2020, the spokesperson for CGT 94, Benjamin Amar, support of Farida, summarized the context: "These people who were applauded in May are taken into custody in June. (…) This anger has overtaken him (…)" and calls for indulgence in view of what the caregivers went through. Who do not feel supported by the government that praised them, but not helped.
Caregivers continue to feel abandoned
Despite the anger expressed and the demands raised, the Urgence Inter Hôpitaux collective, at the origin of these mobilizations, still denounces the problems that persist today. As a reminder, in June 2020, the government offered medals when caregivers demanded funds for the hospital. The Ségur de la Santé, from May to July 2020, had raised a lot of hopes. However, "Between words and deeds, the gap is immense. Thus several hundred bed closures continue to be recorded without justification, across the country, despite the Covid crisis and the anger of caregivers", writes the collective in its press release. This specifies that their claims are old: two years since alerts have been launched on the "Degradation of access to care and working conditions for staff, do not allow professionals to carry out their care missions in conditions of acceptable quality and safety."
Salaries in public hospitals are also below the average for OECD countries. However, on the side of the Ministry of Health, a historic Segur is being invoked and it is asked to wait until it is put in place. The Farida trial therefore takes on an emblematic character of the extreme distress of caregivers, faced with a health system of which France is so proud and which nevertheless seems to cause so much suffering.
Farida herself has spoken February 22, 2021 on the Permanent Revolution website: "I am there for the sick who can no longer be treated as they wish. If we continue at this rate, we will no longer be able to seek treatment in public hospitals." For his part, his lawyer, Maître Arié Alimi, declares that "The issue today is not to know what was done, but why. It is the indignity of the Macron government towards the hospital. 57% of hospital caregivers public suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, 41% from burnout. "