Updates

In January 2025, the French Parliament passed a law to guarantee a minimum number of caregivers per patient in public hospitals to ensure both high-quality care for patients and better working conditions for nursing staff. These new “quality” ratios will set by 2027 a minimum number of nurses and nursing aides per inpatient bed and per ambulatory admission. This measure follows the recent example of Germany by extending existing staffing requirements, previously limited to certain departments such as intensive care and neonatology, to all medical specialties. The French National Authority for Health (HAS) will be responsible for defining the ratios for each speciality, to be revised every five years. The law, introduced in the context of nursing staff shortages in public hospitals, is welcomed by hospital staff but raises concerns about the financial sustainability of public hospitals, which are increasingly in deficit.