Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Nursing Personnel Convention, 1977 (No. 149) - France (Ratification: 1984)

Article 2 of the Convention. Measures to attract nursing personnel to the profession and to retain them. The Committee notes with interest the detailed information provided by the Government in its report. The Government indicates that according to the estimates of the Directorate for Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (DREES), there will be 657,800 nurses in 2030, that is 37 per cent more than in 2006. Moreover, regional disparities in terms of the number of nursing personnel in relation to the total population are expected to decrease. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to improve the distribution of nursing personnel across the national territory and the impact of these measures. Furthermore, it requests the Government to provide information on the concrete impact of the reform of the governance of hospitals introduced by the Act of 21 July 2009 on the working conditions of nursing personnel.

The Committee notes that, following the reform of 2010 implying for the nursing personnel with the status of civil servants the choice between moving to category A and benefiting from a higher salary while renouncing the right to retire earlier, or staying in category B and maintaining the right to an anticipated pension without salary increase, the majority of nurses opted for maintaining the right to retire earlier. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the impact of this reform on the attractiveness of the nursing profession.

Article 5. Participation of nursing personnel on decisions concerning them. In its previous comments, the Committee had noted that the members of the committee for nursing, rehabilitation and medico-technical care were designated by three groups of voters, one of which regroups three occupational groups: nursing, rehabilitation and medico-technical personnel. It had also noted that some representatives of nursing personnel feared that grouping nursing staff with the other two occupational groups referred to above did not allow them to express their views on behalf of their profession. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on the manner in which it is ensured that the concerns of the nursing staff are taken into account within the committee for nursing, rehabilitation and medico-technical care.

Article 7. Occupational health and safety. Following its previous comments, the Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the measures taken with a view to adapting the occupational safety and health regulations to the specific characteristics of the work of nursing personnel.

The Committee requests the Government to provide in its next report information in reply to the comments of the Committee regarding the regions of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion and St. Pierre and Miquelon.