The hospital has to close beds for lack of nurses

The hospital of Angers is due to reduce during the summer its capacity to cater for ailing persons because nurses are becoming scarce. "We face a real problem of recruitment, particularly nurses", recognize the management of the hospital. From among 1 551 beds in the department of medecine, 107 will be closed till mid-september : 7%.

This is the catastrophical result of an ineffectual policy in education of healh workforce for 30 years in France in spite of the ageing of the french population (weak during the hot season as the experience of summer 2003 illustrated it). For example, 2 000 nurses are desperatly needed by french hospitals. This is also true for physicians. Every year the medical universities reject almost 90% of the candidates! But the taxpayer foot the bill for 100%. In times of difficulties for the state, is it sensible to pay worthless education expenses?

But this is, among numerous other examples, an evidence of the increasing pride of french nation. France prefers excellence with scarcity to an anonymous adjustement between national needs and means. Can we qualify a system of excellent when it is quantitatively unable to face to the demand and is, year after year, more expensive?