It is very likely that the solution is in the toolbox which will be advocated by the “flash mission” to relieve emergency services under strain during the summer. The closing of the doors of these services, intended to be open to all 24 hours a day, with access now systematically regulated by the SAMU, has already been imposed in certain hospitals which suffer from a lack of doctors. The CHU of Bordeaux thus caused a thunderclap by establishing this operation at night at the Pellegrin hospital from May 18. A first. The Grenoble University Hospital has resolved to do so from Monday, June 27.
With 35% of vacancies in the team of Bordeaux doctors, it was necessary “try something before summer”, explains the head of department, Philippe Revel: “We had no choice, if we did nothing, the departures of doctors would continue. » After more than a month in this configuration, the emergency doctor generally draws a “positive balance”. “We were able to reduce activity by 25% to 30%, explains Philippe Revel. We have fewer patients waiting, fewer sick people in the hallways and better working conditions for caregivers. » For the department head, this new rule has enabled “to only select patients in the emergency room who really need it”.
This systematic entry regulation by calling 15 is defended in particular by the SAMU-Urgences de France union, to which Professor François Braun belongs, who was commissioned to submit a report on the “emergencies and unscheduled care” by the President of the Republic, expected in the coming days. However, it is far from unanimous in the healthcare community, with some denouncing the resulting restriction of access to healthcare.
“We won’t go back”
What about the other patients in Bordeaux, who may not have suffered from vital distress but were looking for care and could not access the emergency room? The crisis had as a positive consequence the installation of a private practice right next to the emergency room, with a permanence from 2 p.m. to midnight. Philippe Revel, for his part, dismisses the fear of ” to fail ” vital emergencies: “There is always a risk, but it is very low, our regulating doctors are used to interviewing patients, and we have had no major problems to report. »
If all requests for unscheduled care must be answered, it is no longer possible, according to him, to continue to make them all land “in principle” to emergencies ; “we can’t afford it anymore” he said. The next step in his service will no doubt extend this daytime operation. “In any case, we will not go back”he assures.
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