Faced with the increase in contamination and the influx of patients into hospitals, doctors and patient associations say they are “extremely concerned” about the consequences of deprogramming for other patients.
While the fifth wave is breaking in and the number of patients admitted to hospital is on the rise again, health professionals are warning of the risks posed to health by the deprogramming of operations requested by the health authorities.
“The deprogramming of non-Covid patients unfairly exposed to delays in care and loss of opportunity or to foregoing care […] brings us back to a situation that has already been known several times since the start of the epidemic ”, thus lamented the main federation of patient representatives, France Assos Santé, in a support forum for the health professions made public on December 16.
“Delay in taking charge”
A concern shared by the vice-president of the French Federation of diabetics, Jean-François Thébaut, who spoke to Agence France-Presse “Extremely concerned” by the situation of patients with diabetes, while this pathology “Not part of the priorities” hospital directors. “There is a delay in overall support” concerning the installation of insulin pumps, assessments, consultations, he alerted. More than four million people suffer from diabetes in France.
According to Magali Léo, representative of the Renaloo association of kidney patients and transplant recipients, “It seems that the transplants are preserved”, but the uncertainty remains. “We know that there are tensions on transplants from living donors since they can technically be more easily postponed than transplants from deceased donors”, she clarified. Another cause for concern pointed out by Magali Léo: “The massive contaminations of donors and recipients can have massive consequences on access to the transplant with patients who can neither be removed nor transplanted.”
In a column published Sunday in the JDD, six presidents of associations of immunocompromised people (Ellye, Transhépate, France Rein, Vaincre la mucoviscidose, SOS hepatitis and Renaloo) have alerted to the current unavailability of a curative treatment for Covid “Until deliveries expected in February from Sotrovimab and Paxlovid”. “Immunocompromised patients whose condition will worsen due to the unavailability of these treatments risk being refused access to intensive care services, in favor of patients whose prognosis will be better”, they are alarmed.
“Difficult month of January”
Faced with the influx of patients in hospital services (3,572 people in critical care, according to the latest figures from Public Health France), the regional health agency (ARS) of Ile-de-France has asked hospitals to the region “To deprogram as much of the surgical and medical activities as possible” starting Monday.
“Of the 400,000 medical beds in our hospitals today, 20,000 are already occupied by Covid patients even before the impact of the Omicron wave”, said Monday the Minister of Health Olivier Véran, announcing on France Inter “A difficult month of January in the hospital.” Faced with this situation, more than 500 doctors from the Marseille public hospital (AP-HM) also launched on Monday in the daily the Provence a call for vaccination, stressing that “To accommodate the unvaccinated Covid patients who are currently flocking, we had to stop almost all the surgery that was not urgent.” And to warn: “We will not be able to treat other patients who nevertheless need it.”