14 of the 32 largest French hospitals are on the list of hospitals facing closures of certain activities.
Night closings,load shedding“On other hospitals, access filtered by the Samu: for lack of caregivers, at least 120 emergency services have been forced to limit their activity or are preparing for it, according to a list drawn up by the Samu-Urgences de France association (SUdF) that AFP obtained.
Read alsoHow local hospitals facilitate access to care
General emergency alert. In 60 departments, covering the twelve continental regions and Mayotte, at least one service must bow to “difficulties” insurmountable: lack of doctors, nurses, caregivers or “downstream bedsto transfer their patients, according to the SUdF count – which does not include Corsica, the West Indies and Guyana. In total, almost 20% of the approximately 620 establishments – public and private – hosting one or more emergency services are affected.
SEE ALSO – The Covid-19 pandemic had caused between 13 and 17 million deaths by the end of 2021, according to the WHO
There “access control» as the most frequently used solution
Additional sign of an unprecedented crisis, 14 of the 32 largest French hospitals (CHU and CHR) are on this list. Among the 120 establishments listed, more than half had to resolve to close, most often partially, their emergencies. Sometimes at night, as in Alkirch (Haut-Rhin), Auch (Gers) or Voiron (Isère). Elsewhere, by removing mobile teams from Smur, such as Creil (Oise), Grenoble or Metz.
Read alsoAfter two years of crisis, the hospital awaits fundamental reforms
There “solution“the most frequent, however, remains the “access control» by the Samu: in Bordeaux, Cherbourg (Manche) or Nevers (Nièvre), unless there is a vital emergency, only a prior call to 15 can allow admission at certain times. A dozen hospitals went as far as “shedding“, referring the patients to other sites, such as Châteauroux (Indre), Laval (Mayenne) or Pontivy (Morbihan). A handful even resorted towhite plane“, which makes it possible to deprogram operations and reassign personnel, including Rennes, Roubaix and Tourcoing (North). According to an emergency doctor working in one of the hospitals listed, “the situation is catastrophic, we have never experienced such tension even before the summer period“.
SEE ALSO — Faced with rising cases of Covid-19 infection in China, temporary hospital set up in Jilin province