Visiting healthcare personnel, the Minister of Health, François Braun, did not hide his fears, Thursday, December 22, concerning the French health system, faced with a triple winter epidemic of Covid-19, bronchiolitis and flu.
“Our health system is particularly under strain at the moment, with SAMUs having a 30% to 40% increase in the number of calls”noted the minister in front of journalists.
Mr. Braun was paying a night visit to the emergency medical aid service (SAMU) in Paris, based at the Necker hospital (AP-HP), before going to the Delafontaine hospital in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint- Dennis), in order to“provide government support to all the teams mobilized”. Noting that “the emergency services are also saturated, with hospitalization difficulties”the Minister referred to a ” situation (…) critical at the level of the health system”.
“Everyone is mobilizing in a kind of sacred union which is remarkable”he greeted, predicting a situation “even more complicated next week”. “We have an extremely difficult course to overcome”he noted.
“Reform” the health system
Slowing down at the national level but not in all regions, the wave of Covid-19 is contributing to this context of “triple epidemic”, which is testing the health system. It is added, in fact, to the flu, which extends throughout the metropolis, and to bronchiolitis, which has reached record levels for more than ten years in infants despite a recent lull.
A group of more than 5,000 doctors, caregivers and hospital workers called on Wednesday in The worldthe executive to act” emergency “ to help a public hospital “Cracking and soon to crumble”incapable, according to them, of“cushioning the slightest health crisis”.
François Braun promised on Thursday evening that he would begin “from the month of January the global reform of our health system, territory by territory”following the work of the National Refoundation Council. “I thank all the professionals and I tell them that we are mobilized, and that we are going to take the health system head on to reform it”he assured.