France offers intensive care nurses monthly bonus

A medical staff member works in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for COVID-19 patients at La Timone hospital in Marseille, as France is seeing an increase in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases and hospitalisations, France

France will pay intensive care nurses an extra 100 euros per month from January as it seeks to improve work conditions for staff exhausted by the fight against COVID-19, Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Tuesday.

"This is about improving attractiveness, training, qualification, working conditions in intensive care units, acknowledging the skills of those who work there," Castex said during a visit to an intensive care unit in Creteil, near Paris.

The bonus comes ahead of a broader set of measures that will be unveiled next week by Health Minister Olivier Veran to stem shortages of staff on the frontline of the COVID-19 fight.

The rapid spread of the Omicron variant has seen a record number of cases surge in France, putting extra pressure on intensive care units in public hospitals.

Reporting by Dominique Vidalon Writing by Juliette Jabkhiro Editing by Dominique Vidalon and Peter Graff

SOURCE: REUTERS