One tiny glimpse of the problems facing France and her president, which will have to be addressed very soon. In a previous blog I wrote about police officers who have accumulated 20 million hours of unpaid overtime. Now it’s the turn of hospital staff who have clocked up a total of 4 million hours RTT not taken, that is hours already worked which should be compensated by time off. But since in some parts of the country there is a chronic shortage of medical staff and elsewhere a mild shortage, it is simply not possible for these days-off to be honoured. In addition doctors, nurses and other hospital staff have accumulated a total of 23 million hours of overtime unpaid – the figure is particularly high because when staff did take their time off, colleagues had to work overtime to cover for them. A&E staff have been on strike for weeks, junior doctors also. The French health service deficit is already one of the highest in the world, and Sarkozy has said on television that the coffers are empty – so who is going to pay for these hours? Answers on a postcard, please, to N. Sarkozy, the Elysée Palace…….

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