They are luxury interims, itinerant doctors who rent their skills very dearly in hospitals faced with a shortage of nursing staff. Some of these stethoscope snipers can pocket close to $7,000 for a good week of off-duty guards. The law of the market applied to the hospital! But from April, it is the Rist law that applies and must put an end to this practice. It plans to cap the remuneration of these essential auxiliaries, at 1,170 euros gross per 24 hours of care in hospital services. Or, for some, two to three times less than the usual price. Unacceptable for many of these doctors often described as mercenaries by their hospital colleagues. They see themselves rather as an indispensable cog in an already seriously seized up hospital machine. Without this cog, it’s guaranteed breakage. Portrait of these interim practitioners whom the hospital cannot do without.
“We are given the label of mercenaries, but who is there to go and help out in Chalon-sur-Saône, Bourges or Les Sables d’Olonne? I receive dozens of offers on my email from temp boxes and hundreds of hospital offers. And we are many in my case. We follow the law of supply and demand. At 57, this father of three children protests. “But why don’t we criticize the earnings of airplane pilots or footballers? We have a big responsibility. The problem is that our fellow hospital practitioners are not paid enough. We are scapegoats. The government does not realize the mess it got into with this law. It’s gonna be an earthquake. »
A stay in the Island of Beauty, the possibility of swimming in the big blue and going out with friends, in the evening, what could be better? It is the punctual choice of life of Christine, in her forties, who comes from time to time to do temporary assignments in the establishments of Ajaccio or Bastia. She does this in addition to her activity as a part-time hospital practitioner in Île-de-France. “It’s a bit like summer camp. It relaxes me. We’re not going to lie to each other, some destinations are more appealing than others! she confides. She can count on her paid round-trip plane tickets and hotel accommodation. However, Christine is not there on vacation. “We run the shop. Especially in summer there is a lot of work in the emergency room, with vacationers. But I understand that we irritate the incumbents because we are now more numerous than them. We have the right to decide who we work with, for the schedules. She chose this formula because it reminds her of her “freer student life”.
“You know, I wish I had a well-paid doctor’s job. But in Saint-Étienne I was offered 2,200 euros as a starting salary and I was only taken part-time, or 1,100 euros per month. After ten years of study, it was impossible to accept, I said no. Gaël therefore launched into the interim. “We feel like we’re useful, doing humanitarian work. I like to adapt, do my best, meet new teams, even if it’s not always easy. ” He continues the missions: “I was at the hospital center of Bourges and also at the hospital center of Ambert. I was not staying in a luxury hotel, but in the rooms of the boarding school. We don’t roll on gold. Gaël recounts a France of isolated, remote territories… but which need doctors. “I feel useful when I work in a hospital in the Jura. Afterwards, it’s not easy not to have a restaurant for 10 kilometers around. He has done his accounts and is thinking about the new conditions of the Rist law. “I think I’ll still accept their prices. I don’t have much choice. But I will no longer go to certain places that are too difficult, if the price is too low. »
*Name changed.
