The Regional Council of the Order of Physicians (CROM) of Occitanie is having a difficult start to 2022, which follows an equally delicate 2021. Starting tomorrow, January 11, its president will have to defend himself before the Montpellier Criminal Court, following complaints for ” psychological abuse »Submitted by two employees of the Council. A month later, on February 12, the institution will have to report to the tribunal des Prud’hommes, following the dismissal ” for gross negligence “, Presumed abusive, of the two complainants.
That’s not all. This waltz of complaints, coordinated with an anonymous sending of accounting documents giving rise to suspicion of financial embezzlement, had, at the end of 2020, determined the National Council of the Order of Physicians (CNOM) to carry out an audit of its regional office. However, the conclusions of this audit, made on April 8, 2021, were leaked last November. FranceSoir got hold of them, and they are overwhelming.
They show an institution mistreating its staff, with surprising financial practices, and headed by an omnipotent president who does not hesitate to encroach on the missions of other members of the office. The CNOM denounces a management ” problematic or even calamitous on several points both in terms of administrative management and that of human resources ».
Disastrous human resources management
The accusations made by Mrs. C. and Mrs. D. against Doctor Jean Thévenot, Toulouse gynecologist current president of the Occitanie CROM, are serious. The two women, experienced administrative secretaries who have always given satisfaction to their employer, complain that their working conditions have deteriorated to such an extent that they have fallen ill. The first denounces repeated pressure, daily denigration, daily verbal attacks and unjustified reproaches. The second confirms these accusations, deplores messages from her boss at all hours of the day and night, and furthermore claims to have been instructed by Doctor Thévenot to spy and record his colleague without his knowledge.
Madame C. went on sick leave, before being dismissed some time later, against the advice of the National Council of the Order of Physicians, who advocated her reinstatement. Mrs D. was also made redundant. In the meantime, a third secretary, previously employed in Toulouse by Doctor Thévenot in the clinic where he works, has been recruited by the CROM. She also found herself on sick leave following a conflict with another counselor.
This waltz of the secretaries did not go without a hitch. Dr Cabanel, secretary general of CROM between February 2019 and September 2020, deplored a ” untenable situation »To Dr Thévenot. He claims to have been forced to resign from his post for ” do not interfere with the proper functioning of the institution “. Also, he assures during the audit, that he “ no longer wanted to endorse the president’s unilateral decision-making in personnel management ».
For his part, Dr Chaze, president of the restricted formation, was worried that the new recruits had ” no knowledge of their tasks “. Assuring that he has never encountered such difficulties in personnel management during his career, he underlined the ” violence of departures ” and the “turn-overFrom the secretaries.
Dr Kezachian, former president of the Languedoc-Roussillon regional council, had stepped aside from these conflicts to maintain his neutrality. Nevertheless, he expressed his concerns about the behavior towards the staff.
Dr Rossignol, Deputy Secretary General, who had already opposed Dr Thévenot on several occasions, accuses him of making decisions on his own. She maintains that the situation could not improve given the personality of the president, and is therefore in favor of his resignation.
Even Drs Robert, vice-president, and Rouviere, who generally support the decisions taken by Dr Thévenot, remain however reserved as to the management of personnel, which should have been left to the care of the Secretary General.
Finally, Dr Labrusse, elected to the post of Secretary General in November 2020, after the parade of secretaries has ended, assures us that all will go well if Dr Thévenot keeps his word and stays away from personnel management matters. Otherwise, he will not hesitate to resign.
Suffice to say that even if Dr. Thévenot defends himself against any mistreatment of the staff working for him, his conception of staff management is not unanimous. A management of human resources which, not only will have caused dysfunctions in the institution, but will also have left behind several secretaries “suffering»(According to the CNOM audit). A shame for a doctor supposed to have made the Hippocratic Oath his own: “My first concern will be to restore, preserve or promote health in all its elements, physical and mental, individual and social.The National Council of the Order of Physicians has also informed the complainants of the referral to the disciplinary chamber of the CROM of Occitania against the gynecologist.
A financial analysis that leaves some mysteries hovering
On the financial side, it is once again Dr. Thévenot who seems to be in charge. While the audit salutes the work and goodwill of the WRC treasurer, the use of certain service providers raises questions. The external IT service provider called on by the CROM is well known to Dr Thévenot; it is also that of the Toulouse clinic where the doctor works, that of the departmental council of Haute-Garonne when Doctor Thévenot was president, as well as that of the MOTS association which the gynecologist directs.
In addition, the provider of the website is none other than the company which employs the wife of Dr Thévenot.
But, the most amazing expenses are found elsewhere. A secretary does not complain about the Occitanie CROM, and for good reason! When the councils were merged, Ms. E., secretary with the former Midi-Pyrénées Regional Council, resided in Toulouse. Not wishing to go to work in Montpellier in the new CROM of Occitanie, she benefits from a contractual termination and leaves the regional council on February 8, 2019. She then receives compensation of 17,000 euros. However, on March 1 of the same year, she was rehired by the CROM d’Occitanie. She retains her seniority, is entitled to many benefits, and works from Toulouse. Secretaries say “that she has not come once on site, that she is not doing anything, and that it is a fictitious job“. As we have not managed to contact her, it is impossible to know what is going on, but it is on the other hand allowed to note that her rehiring did not drag on. How surprising it is that, against all expectations, on November 8, 2019, a second contractual termination was signed, for which Mrs. of his mutual insurance company for another year. As the audit reports, “the person concerned will therefore have benefited from two contractual terminations which cost the institution a total of € 37,000“. The audit also reports that “these decisions were taken by Dr Thévenot alone».
Does the Order of Physicians wash its dirty laundry as a family?
Although the findings of the audit (which would have remained internal without a timely leak) of the National Council of the College of Physicians are severe, it is surprising that it did not “no financial embezzlement“. Perhaps there is an acceptable explanation for the largesse enjoyed by Ms. doctors are compulsory)… Especially since the expenses of the Occitanie CROM reveal other curiosities that FranceSoir will expose to you in a future article.
In addition, the National Council of the Order of Physicians concludes that “on the whole, the Occitanie CROM faces up to its sovereign functions“And that”large majority of the members of the Bureau reiterated their confidence in the president [Thévenot] ».
But, at the same time, the CNOM underlines that in “imposing a personal management system », le Dr Thévenot « destroyed the administrative structure“… We can therefore rightly wonder about the impact that such a”destruction»On the proper exercise of said sovereign functions.
Finally, the audit reports behaviors “inappropriate for staff“, which are “ethically intolerable on the part of the president of a council of the medical order“. So of course, disciplinary proceedings seem to be initiated against Dr Thévenot, but finally, concerning the CROM of Occitanie, the National Council of the Order of Physicians confines itself to making five recommendations, of which we already know that some do not ‘have not been followed up.
Despite article 40 of the Code of Criminal Procedure which provides that “any constituted authority, any public officer or civil servant who, in the exercise of his functions, acquires knowledge of a crime or an offense is required to give notice thereof without delay to the public prosecutor and to transmit to this magistrate all information, minutes and documents relating to it», It seems that no legal action was required from the CNOM. However, professional harassment is a criminal offense. And if it is not possible to affirm today that the Occitanie CROM is the scene of financial embezzlement, it is clear that certain practices raise questions, even to a less suspicious mind.