Before the presidential election,
20 Minutes
met families who make up French society today.
They evoke what has changed during this mandate, their expectations and their vision of the current political world.
In Toulouse, Lilia and Maxime belong to the large family of caregivers, both are nurses in an intensive care unit at the Toulouse University Hospital.
After having suffered the brunt of two years of health crisis, the couple hope that the politicians will keep their promises and will once again provide the public hospital with resources.
In Toulouse, in the cozy apartment of Lilia and Maxime, it is Lenny, “two and a quarter years old” who welcomes visitors with an enthusiastic “hello”.
At the end of the day, he takes advantage of both his parents at the same time.
A rather rare moment, because like many caregiver couples, Lilia and Maxime work “against”: when one does the night, the other is during the day, and vice versa.
Schedules that punctuate the daily life of these two thirty-somethings, both intensive care nurses at the Toulouse University Hospital.
A service that Lilia joined after several years spent in the emergency room.
Including the last two, at the height of the Covid-19 crisis.
“A psychologically trying period”, assures the young mother of 33 years.
Faced with serious cases every day, this time they had to deal with exceptional and unprecedented circumstances.
“It's hard to see people die alone, to see families say goodbye to their loved ones through a tablet.
In fact, we see sad stories most of the time, but there we have become the only pillar for the patient, ”recalls Maxime, aware that Toulouse has, despite everything, been spared more than cities like Mulhouse or Paris.
After the applause...
The loud applause from the French at 8 p.m. has been eclipsed over time by the harsh reproaches, sometimes insults, of certain patients and their relatives.
“We were told that it did not exist, that it was us, caregivers, who were carrying the virus or that we were stealing their vaccine.
Just recently the mother of a 50-year-old man asked me to see the X-rays of her deceased son from Covid, accusing us of wanting to inflate the stats, ”says Lilia, a bit disillusioned.
It is also difficult to say to themselves that they could bring the virus home and infect their little Lenny, who was very young at the time.
"People were also afraid to see us and we were also hesitant because you never know," continues the young woman.
Like her spouse, she was able to count on the team spirit and the cohesion of the caregivers in these difficult times.
If in their services, we were able to anticipate the waves and set up a suitable system, as everywhere else, they nevertheless had to deal with the shortage of masks.
“This crisis has pointed to certain problems.
In 2020, in France, we ran out of certain drugs that were very important in the care of patients, we had to count the bulbs of curare.
It shouldn't come to this.
We have to be able to produce and not be dependent on other countries for a whole host of products, ”says the 30-year-old, in the form of a request to the attention of politicians.
“A real loss of confidence” in politicians
The presidential election?
They look at it a bit from a distance, even if Lilia decided this year to re-register on the electoral lists and to slip her ballot into the ballot box.
But neither of them knows yet the name will appear on it.
"They all have a program and when they come to power, they do not apply it", regrets the nurse for whom "there is a real loss of confidence" shared by his generation.
“For more than 15 years there have been bed closures in order to promote ambulatory care,” he continues.
“Sometimes that can be a good thing, but…” begins Lilia.
“But when there is a pandemic, we realize that they had to be left open”, ends Maxime.
Both agree to make the same observation, that of the lack of resources allocated to the public hospital.
“When a 100-year-old man goes to the emergency room and waits 24 hours in the hallways to get a place in geriatrics, that's not normal.
It is sometimes necessary to wait three days to have a place in psychiatry and during this time, the patient is attached and sedated.
Seats are the biggest problem, you have one seat and three people, you have to choose.
During the Covid, everything we wanted, we had.
But since then we have closed beds.
The allocated budget is not sufficient, the hospital needs more resources,” pleads Lilia, between two requests from her little Lenny.
Deeply committed to public service
So the ambulatory can sometimes be a solution.
But causes issues of conscience, especially when we have to send home a septuagenarian, who lives alone and without help, with an immobilized shoulder.
“We should be able to keep people hospitalized when they need it”, continues the one who would not see herself joining the private sector.
Both remain deeply attached to the public service, to its values, to the possibility it offers of supporting everyone, without distinction.
Our file on the presidential
They know they are not the worst off.
That the Ségur and the Ségur 2 allowed to put a little butter in the spinach.
“We ate in the fridge, we go on vacation once a year.
But when we compare ourselves to other European countries, we see that we are poorly paid in relation to our responsibilities, to the nights we work,” asserts Lilia.
No question of changing jobs.
Because on a daily basis, despite the pitfalls, they continue to have the impression of “doing something human and useful”.
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Occitania
Coronavirus
Health
Covid-19
Nurse
Toulouse
Hospital
Elections
Society
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