The working time of doctors in the hospital would greatly exceed the regulatory limits, which the government already knows.
Hospitals are required to carry out a reliable and objective count of the working time of their doctors and interns, which often exceed the legal maximum of 48 hours per week, estimated the public rapporteur of the Council of State during a hearing. Time is running out for hospitals. Seized by three unions of doctors and interns, the Council of State must decide on a possible formal notice from the government, in order to apply the existing law.
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During the hearing on Wednesday, the public rapporteur concluded that the appeals lodged should be dismissed, while granting the applicants their case on the merits, two participants present at the hearing told AFP on Thursday. In essence, the rules in force do not need to be reinforced by an additional obligation or a sanction in the event of infringement, as demanded by the unions, but each hospital must be considered responsible for the correct application of the decrees framing the working time of practitioners.
Contacted, the Council of State confirms that the rapporteur proposed to the judges to retain that health establishments be required to set up a reliable and objective system for counting working time. If the magistrates follow this advice, the litigation could quickly move before administrative courts, wherever disputes will be raised. The decision is expected within two to three weeks, so before the end of June.
A worrying situation according to the unions
Despite the probable rejection of his requests, the president of the Intersyndicale Nationale des Interns (Isni), Gaëtan Casanova, considers that this opinion “sounds like a real and serious warning to the government“, who “will necessarily have to set up a reliable count of working time“. His union has repeatedly alerted to the excessive pace imposed on interns, which exceeded 58 hours per week on average before the Covid according to its latest survey.
The situation was known to the Ministry of Health, of which a study carried out last year showed that seven out of ten interns exceeded the 48-hour limit.
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