Our members Le Syndicat des managers publics de santé

Created in 1947 by hospital directors in charge of economic and financial management, le Syndicat National des Cadres Hospitaliers (SNCH) has progressively opened up to all hospital executives: Administrative, medical and technical.

Aware of the evolution of the healthcare sector and in particular the integration of hospitals into a global healthcare system including the social and medico-social sector, the SNCH also opened up to professions other than hospital executives. This transformation resulted in a change of name for the union: In 2010 the SNCH became SMPS, the syndicat des manageurs publics de santé (Union for Public Health Managers).

Independent

SMPS offers the opportunity to become a member or to campaign within an independent organisation structured upon the protection of executives and managers and listening to its members.

SMPS is the only union in the healthcare sector devoted exclusively to executives and healthcare managers, the only union that is totally independent without links to a confederation and without political affinity. It is financed exclusively by its members and its national officers are elected by members. Its values and its efficiency strengthen its representation. SMPS is the majority union for hospital directors. It gathers 50 percent of votes at professional elections, holds seats in national commissions and is consulted by the Health Minister on the texts and reforms that affect public health establishments and their personnel.

Values

The values advocated by SMPS rest upon:

1. Its political independence, which allows it to act in freedom;
2. The protection of its members in respect to ethics and statutory rights;
3. The will to promote and gain recognition for the functions of managers in public health establishments;
4. The association and the participation of executives and managers in decisions concerning the functioning of their establishments;
5. The efficiency of the public health service; and
6. The advancement of public health institutions within the health and social system adapted to the needs of the user.

Activities

SMPS distinguishes itself by its sense of progress and by the link it establishes between the modernisation of the hospital and the statutory improvement of executives and managers. The recent reform of governance of healthcare establishments and the new pricing system were the occasion for SMPS to take a modern and innovative approach to administration and management. SMPS lead negotiations on the statutes of hospital directors, which led to a very important development in 2005, placing the profession in high public service.
SMPS advocates a public service that generates access to care, equal treatment for all, and adapts its methods. For SMPS, managers must continue their education throughout their entire career.

The quality of management, both individual and collective, directly determines the quality of service to patients. At the present moment SMPS is reflecting on public service management techniques and the healthcare system. It is fighting for the reform of management and administrative tools.

The reflections encompass all domains: The status and conditions of staff duties, healthcare facilities, the place and role of financiers and those elected, regulations, fields of activity, status of the establishments, etc.

SMPS is a permanent laboratory of ideas to improve public hospitals and healthcare establishments. Its members are aware that from now public services are subject to performance requirements and international comparison.

Through its actions, SMPS shows its sense of the responsibilities of health managers and their concern to defend a humanist and efficient conception of national solidarity and public health service.