• The town hall of Roubaix chose on Wednesday to transfer the management of two municipal nursing homes to an association.

  • The decision worries the opposition, which sees it as an abandonment of public service.

  • The town hall defends itself by evoking a structural deficit in the operation of the two establishments.

A sulphurous context.

The town hall of Roubaix chose on Wednesday to transfer the management of two municipal nursing homes to an association.

A decision that worries the opposition and raises questions after the recent study by UFC-Que Choisir on the situation of access to nursing homes, particularly in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais.

At the beginning of the year, it was a book-investigation,

Les Fossoyeurs,

which scandalized public opinion by revealing certain practices within private establishments welcoming dependent elderly people.

Last week, a report from UFC-Que Choisir brought another subject to the fore.

Limited access to nursing homes

The consumer defense association denounced even more limited access in these two departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais than in the rest of France.

In question, prices, certainly a little lower on average, but which require more financial sacrifices because of the lower incomes of the inhabitants.

For comparison, "residents must draw 509 euros per month for the North and 488 euros for Pas-de-Calais (against 416 euros nationally), in their savings", underlines the UFC-Que Choisir which confirms that it is the private sector that pulls up average prices.

In the North, public nursing homes (which have 83% of places) have an average price of 2,002 euros.

It is necessary to count 200 euros more in the associative sector and 600 additional euros in the lucrative private sector.

“The cumulative deficit exceeds 3 million euros”

This observation, however, has not prevented the town hall (DVD) of Roubaix from working, for a few years, on a transfer of management of two municipal nursing homes (Potennerie and Résidence Nouveau Monde) to an association headed by the current director of these establishments. .

Asked by

20 Minutes

, Jean-Philippe Dancoine, deputy mayor in charge of the file, puts forward the economic argument.

“The cumulative deficit exceeds 3 million euros, which is no longer tenable,” he explains, relying on a report from the Regional Chamber of Auditors, published in March.

“Despite a certain price attractiveness, the under-occupation of nursing homes does not allow them to optimize their own resources to cope with a level of staff costs that are constantly growing”, can we read in this report. which evokes “a structural financial imbalance” and mentions that two thirds of the annual 20 million CCAS are devoted to these two nursing homes.

“It is a pure and simple abandonment of the public service”

On Wednesday, a vote by the Communal Center for Social Action (CCAS) endorsed the project, which must be effective on July 1.

"This transfer to a non-profit association will guarantee an affordable cost, an essential condition in a city like Roubaix", assures Jean-Philippe Dancoine who believes that "the city retains a right of scrutiny by participating in association meetings".

Right of inspection contested by Christiane Fonfroide, municipal councilor (PCF) of opposition.

“The town hall gives itself a clear conscience, because it is a pure and simple abandonment of the public service, she disputes.

Since coming to power in 2014, the municipal team has let mismanagement take hold to justify this transfer to the private sector.

For Abdelkrim Abdesselam, CGT union representative at the CCAS in Roubaix, "it is above all a disaster for the staff who have to leave or give up their status, but also for the residents who had a strong bond with these agents and fear the change of staff. ".

The capacity of these nursing homes can reach 160 patients.

About fifty territorial agents and about fifty contractors worked there.

Company

Retirement: Where and how do the French imagine themselves aging?

Company

UFC-Que Choisir calls for the creation of places in nursing homes in the public sector

  • Lille

  • Hauts-de-France

  • nursing home

  • Roubaix

  • Public service