Emergencies are at your wit’s end. And due to growing staff shortages, a growing number of hospitals are forced to close, sometimes temporarily, their emergency services. According to a survey by the Samu Urgences de France (SUdF) union carried out in 331 establishments in 92 departments, 26% of them are forced to establish a restriction on access to emergencies.
Of the 88 establishments affected, 67 have systematic medical regulation by the Samu-Center 15 to authorize access to emergencies. This measure, for example, was launched in Bordeaux at night, a few weeks ago.
But other university hospitals have been forced to shut down their emergency services entirely. According to the SUdF report, there are at least 42.
“86% of the SAMUs consider that this gap between the human resources available and the significant increase in activity causes operational and security difficulties in their exercise,” says the union.
“The situation will deteriorate further”
Additionally, 95% of UAEs report significant problems with the availability of hospital beds for their patients, according to the survey.
“The emergency services are in a very great fragility”, summarizes the SUdF, which underlines an “unusual overactivity”. “The implementation of the recommendations of the flash mission (headed by François Braun, new Minister of Health) is insufficient and does not guarantee the smoothness and safety of the operation,” warns the organization.
“The expected situation in August will deteriorate further, with an increase in the closure of institutional beds and a decrease in the availability of the liberal health care offer linked to the leave.”
“An institutional abuse”
The union denounces “institutional abuse” and calls for the application of “binding measures.” Otherwise, “we must wait for the rapid evolution towards an explosive situation, which will have as a first consequence new departures of medical and/or paramedical personnel fleeing this institutional mistreatment”, it can be read.
Samu urgences de France therefore calls for “the application of a true policy of making beds available after emergencies up to the minimum daily need for beds in all establishments”. If necessary, “establishments will have to resort to deprogramming to recover capacity,” estimates the SUdF.
According to the union, the authorities should also “require” the private sector “to participate in monitoring emergencies and in organizing the permanence of care in shared establishments in each territory.”
Source: BFM TV
