A collective of about a hundred health professionals marched in Guadeloupe on Friday, December 12, in honor of Jean-Michel Gal, a psychiatrist who was murdered in early December by a patient at the Gosier medical-psychological center, on the island of Grande-Terre, where he was serving.
Dressed entirely in white, these nurses, doctors and health officials marched between Pointe-à-Pitre and Les Abymes and demanded “more resources” to fight “against uncertainty” and psychiatry.
“We miss him terribly. I am angry with everything, with this person who made the gesture, and with this feeling of insecurity that we experience”breathes, his voice full of emotions, Jean-Pierre Baral, 60 years old, intra-hospital nurse in the same sector as Doctor Gal, whose memory he salutes, has a journalist from Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The psychiatrist, 67 years old, died at the end of a consultation from the stab wounds of one of his patients, 48 years old.
Under the sun and then the rain, Christelle Antoine, in her fifties, parades with a yellow sign around her neck, on which is written: “Your well-being is our mission” and “Work safely!! Sé sa nou Vlé!! [C’est ce que nous voulons] » in Creole. “The situation is getting worse”explains this professional who has been practicing for twenty-one years and who asks “of the world” etc “material” work.
Working conditions challenged by healthcare providers
Jimmy Louis, a 46-year-old nurse in the mobile de-escalation team, especially hopes so “This tragedy is not an isolated event, there is a before and an after”.
“There is a big problem around care outside the hospital, because the medical-psychological centers are not necessarily located in suitable buildings, because they are located in individual homes”Mr. Louis notes, as several healthcare providers emphasize “the lack of emergency exits” in offices, “corridors too narrow” creating one “too close to difficult patients”.
Hospital officer Hermin Hubert, 41 years old, came “to support [les] colleagues of the CMP du Gosier, in this tragedy because they are seriously affected”. Some of them were on site at the time of the incident and have not returned to work since.
“We all have workplace safety issues to some extent”for her part, Anne Poulichet, a 51-year-old pediatrician, stated “very moved”location “out of solidarity”.
At the end of the march, a delegation of five people was received at the Regional Health Service (ARS) in Les Abymes to “asking to be involved in the work in progress”Christelle Antoine told AFP after this meeting.
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