“HR must come out of denial of reality”: after the suicide of two colleagues, Béziers hospital staff pay tribute to them

Around 150 hospital workers gathered in front of the entrance to the Montimaran site to observe a minute of silence in honour of two colleagues who died. Diane Petitmangin

Staff from the four sites of the Béziers hospital paid tribute on Thursday 26 September to the two colleagues who committed suicide this summer. A union spokesperson also denounced the brutal management policies and called for a real dialogue to be opened.

In memory of those who have left. This Thursday, September 26, at 10:30 a.m., the agents of all the sites of the Béziers hospital center – Montimaran (general establishment), Perréal (geriatrics, addictology …), Camille-Claudel (psychotherapeutic center) and Cazouls-lès-Béziers (Ehpad Simone-de-Beauvoir) – observed a minute of silence in tribute to their two colleagues who died this summer, in the presence of family members.

With serious faces, reddened eyes, voices cracking with emotion, there were about 150 of them in front of the entrance to Montimaran and more than 60 in the large courtyard of Perréal, under the olive tree. A moment of contemplation, sober and stripped down, which also served to raise awareness "about the suffering at work within our establishment". Because nothing is going well at the Béziers hospital, which is in the grip of malaise after these two suicides.

“A dehumanized HRD”

The inter-union CGT, FO, CFDT and CNI also issued an “Open Letter” to director Philippe Banyols at the beginning of September (read below) which denounces the current human resources policy, “entirely dehumanized”. However, the majority union Force Ouvrière, through Marc Valette, who was present at Perréal, did not wish to mix union demands into this tribute.

The open letter from the inter-union

In their open letter to the general director Philippe Banyols, the union organizations CGT, FO, CFDT and CNI recall that the Béziers hospital has always been“a humane, family hospital, where staff came to work with pleasure and a smile, and this, until not very long ago”. In light of the tragic events, “we alert you to the managerial policies put in place by the HRD, far from caring support and conducive to a quality climate for taking care of patients and residents”.

They continue : “The HR policy put in place, devoid of any empathy, relegating staff to the rank of simple pawn that we moves without any qualms, is the main cause of this malaise. Absenteeism is proof of this." And point the finger at "arbitrarily imposed staff movements", "reminders about leave", “non-replacements of absences”, “refusals of promotion”, “agents who have been contract employees for more than ten years”, etc. The list of grievances is long. In conclusion, the unions demand that the current HR policy, a "policy of terror", ceases and that it be "more humane, more attentive […] Respectful and non-directive listening, with empathy" because "we do not want another tragedy to happen".

On the contrary, in Montimaran, the three other formations considered "that they could not stop there there". Without flags or microphone, a union spokesperson recalled that “Work must be a means of emancipation and not a psychosocial risk factor that endangers the health of employees”. If management received the unions after the open letter and”60~em> “asked them about methods to implement in order to avoid this kind of tragedy […], for us, this is not enough”.

A real social dialogue

As in many other public hospitals in France,“We no longer want an HRD that is purely a matter of management control, but an HRD that is close to the field. We are asking for the establishment of a real social dialogue, well-defined regulations, clear directives displayed within the units. Benevolent social behaviors. We ask the HRD to stop denying reality, which can lead to the trivialization of evil and the increase in suicidal acts.

Towards a reform of the hematology department

Following the suicide of a nurse last June, the inter-union requested an external audit on psychosocial risks within the hematology-oncology department where she had worked. The latter presented conclusions on September 18, which testify to “a significant psychosocial risk”. In his analysis, he notes “the dysfunctions of the service, the medical disorganization and the shift in tasks“, in particular, which only increase the workload, generate a loss of meaning,  etc.

"But the general director, himself, requested an expert appraisal from the French Society of Hematology (SFH)", which was presented this Tuesday, September 24th to the union representatives. "To prepare a service project, it seems that the director is more inclined to follow the recommendations of the latter, rather than those established by the audit firm". Among the SFH's recommendations, that of sending patients with the most serious pathologies to the Montpellier University Hospital is not accepted. “This is not a satisfactory response, neither for the agents, dispossessed of their work and their skills, nor for the patients who will have to travel.”

Management seems ready to reform the hematology department, but “we want a general reflection throughout the hospital, because there are dysfunctions everywhere. This is institutional mistreatment that we need to get out of.” Marc Valette (Force Ouvrière) adds : “We need to reintroduce a human dimension and plan working groups, exchange groups. Before, we had department meetings, where we could discuss problems. I relaunched this approach by requesting, at a minimum, a meeting every two months with an occupational psychologist. A place for discussion to free up speech. It remains to be seen whether this desire for transparency and dialogue will be followed by action.

Agents' testimonies

Charles (*), a nursing assistant, talks about the suicide of the stretcher-bearer, whom he knew, without prejudging the reasons that motivated his action. "He's the husband of one of my colleagues, we're far from being insensitive. Three kids lost theirur father, the youngest is 3 years old. It's someone who has been projected to another position, without receiving him, without speaking with him, to see if it posed any difficulties for him.”

He continues: “Since we have been supervised by administrators, we are in an accounting exercise. We no longer talk about patients but about customers. I'm sick of hearing the word customer. Today, we find ourselves working on the assembly line, taking care of doing fifteen toilets, it forces us to rush the work. We are told that wehave our grade, but not our position. Du one day to the next, you can be ejected."

Franck (*), skilled worker: "Oyes, we didn't take kid gloves with him (the stretcher-bearer who committed suicide, Editor's note). From one day to the next, he felt mistreated by management, the executives. It's global, many of us are under this pressure. One day, I had three hernias in my back because of my work as a warehouse worker. From then on, I was sick for two months. I went back to therapeutic part-time work, this excuse was used to put me on the shelf, on a thankless task that others don't want to do. Management doesn't listen to the feelings of the agents.” He adds: “The only listening that exists is between usand with the unions that are there to try to help us. But even the unions are muzzled. At the bottom of the ladder, you feel like you have no leverage”.

Jennifer (*), she decided to leave because “I no longer find the pleasure of working”. Caught between chronic understaffing and “the violence and incessant reproaches of families”, she deplores that the agents are only “numbers, because hospital management is business”.
(*) First names have been changed.

The management did not wish to respond to this tribute gathering. I subscribe to read the rest