Don’t look now but the French government is making noises about pulling the rug out from under the very common practice of looking the other way when healthcare workers, particularly nurses, take on extra shifts at neighboring hospitals and clinics.
According to a government report released this last week, almost 5% of nurses and medical technicians are heavy into double-dipping (‘cumulards’, they’re called).
Looking the Other Way
The article sites an "attitude plutôt bienveillante" or carefree attitude by the hospitals who need the extra help, by the nurses that want the extra money, the temp services whose business it is to fill the shifts and the government that can’t satisfy the voracious French demand for healthcare.
In theory, practitioners could lose their license if they’re caught violating the complex set of double-dipping regulations but the reality is that the government has no easy way to catch up with employees in violation. It’s not clear to me why that’s so hard. Wouldn’t the French government just need a simple program that sums up hours and spits out those employees over the limit?
