Paris (AFP)
Prime Minister Édouard Philippe defended Thursday on France Inter the hospital plan declaring that he did not want to "divide anyone", in the face of critics including the collective Inter-Emergency.
Asked about the choice of a special bonus of 800 euros reserved for nurses and carers of Ile-de-France, the Prime Minister replied: "I do not want to divide anyone, I want to save the public hospital".
After the presentation of the hospital plan Wednesday, the collective Inter-Emergency has judged "extremely medico-centric measures" and "which seem to seek to divide Paris and the regions".
"When we want to save the public hospital, we look where the problems are most glaring and we dedicate these means to the most glaring problems," argued the Prime Minister.
"There is a specificity of the Paris region, it is not because it is Paris, it is a very high hospital density, because the conditions of exercise are a little particular, offbeat and very intense, because the dearness of life is special, "he said.
He recalled that AP-HP (Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris) is closing beds because "we do not find the men and women who come to work in services".
The Minister of Health, Agnès Buzyn, has stressed on his side on France Info that there was no outside Paris "no big city where people make two hours to come to work".
"But Paris, it is absolutely not all the premiums," she added. "There is no health and nursing staff who can not access a premium with what we put on the table," she said.
Asked why a salary increase had not been chosen, the Prime Minister replied that "the impact on everyone involved would have been far below expectations."
On the criticism of this plan, which has elicited mixed reactions from professionals, he said: "I did not announce the plan saying that the next day everyone would shout hurray, dance the jig and say everything is in order".
© 2019 AFP