2023-10-16 11:04:26
For the year 2024, three separate envelopes should make it possible to provide a first response to the expectations of nursing staff who say they are at their wits’ end.
Nursing staff have stepped up their actions this year to demand more resources. The Covid crisis has indeed accentuated the chronic problems related to working conditions and the exhaustion of workers in the sector. The absenteeism rate in the sector reached 13.5% this year, warned the unions once more in June, during a major demonstration. The long-term absence rate is 50% higher than what we see in other professions. The shortage of caregivers has led to the closure of nearly 2,500 beds across the country.
The office of Minister of Health Frank Vandenbroucke hopes to reduce the number of burnout relapses or early departures from the profession.
On the occasion of the conclusion of the 2024 budget, resources were released to try to stem the problem. Three concrete measures were taken, totaling an investment of 51 million euros.
Relieving staff and increasing numbers
The first touch on the reintegration of workers returning to service following a long absence. The idea is to enable the hiring of staff to replace caregivers who would become companions for colleagues returning to work, but also for young people at the start of their careers. Pilot projects will be launched in this direction for an amount of 7 million euros. The office of Minister of Health Frank Vandenbroucke hopes to reduce the number of burnout relapses or early departures from the profession.
The second support measure – accompanied by an envelope of 21 million – concerns the recruitment of administrative staff, in order to relieve nursing staff of administrative and logistical tasks that prevent them from devoting the necessary time to patients. These tasks might be delegated to caregivers.
Finally, 23 million euros will be devoted to continuing support measures for training projects to retrain workers from other sectors into the care sectors. Over the last three years, underlines the Vandenbroucke firm, 4,500 people have joined such a training program, called #choosecare. This program, financed by Maribel social and the White Coat Fund, allows workers in need of change to train as nurses or caregivers while benefiting from remuneration. These people are, in fact, bound by an employment contract with a healthcare institution. During the school year, they follow their training, and already work hours in the field during school holidays. The firm hopes to create 170 additional places in this program.
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