Pointe-à-Pitre (AFP)

Edouard Philippe said Sunday that the "guidelines" chosen by the government to respond to the crisis of hospitals were "not called into question" and made "a fairly broad consensus", even if emergency measures are claimed.

"In the hospital, there are tensions, difficulties to properly exercise the profession, we are fully aware of it," said the Prime Minister from Guadeloupe, including the focus on "a budget regulation that is formidable for the operation "of hospitals.

"The goal is to try to provide answers that are not just emergency responses," he added, referring to government plans like "My Health 2022".

"What I also observe is that what prevails in the critics is the sense of urgency: we must go faster," Philippe continued.

"But the orientations given by Agnès Buzyn, the direction we want to take, are not called into question.There is a fairly broad consensus that we are going in the right direction," he said. he argues.

However, the emergency strike started seven months ago is not weakening (267 services mobilized mid-October according to the organizers) and threatens to extend to the entire public hospital, with in focus a "big event" planned in Paris on November 14th.

To respond to the malaise, Ms. Buzyn announced Wednesday a "plan of support" for the hospital to be "presented in the course of November", with "obviously associated means".

Mr. Philippe took advantage of his visit to Guadeloupe on Saturday and Sunday to visit the site of the future University Hospital Center (CHU) in Pointe-à-Pitre, touting an "extremely ambitious" project. The building, which is to be inaugurated in 2023 and is fully funded by a budget of 600 million euros from the state, is designed to withstand seismic and cyclonic shocks.

Meanwhile, the state must support the current hospital, hard hit by a fire in November 2018 and in a "difficult situation," said Mr. Philippe.

Asked about Chlordecone, a dangerous insecticide used from 1972 to 1993 in the Caribbean, Mr. Philippe assured that the government was "very aware of the concerns, of a feeling of anger that can prevail", while the responsibility of the State seems committed to this file. A parliamentary mission, which heard four ministers last week, is due to report by December 4.

© 2019 AFP