The Olympic Games "bubble" may mask the difficulties in places, but as every summer, the situation is tense in hospital emergency departments, with numerous regulatory measures and even closures announced across France.
Services in great distress
Almost everywhere, the regional press reports the difficulties hospitals are having in ensuring the smooth running of their emergency services, due in particular to an endemic lack of staff, which becomes glaring during the holiday period. Deaths, up to seventy hours of waiting... A tense summer at the emergency room of the Nantes University Hospital", wrote the daily this week West France. “ At least 340 beds are administratively closed due to lack of staff", denounces the FO union of this establishment, worrying about " many signs of exhaustion " among the hospital workers.
THE Free Dauphine evokes for his part a " daily struggle " in hospitals in Isère for the opening of emergency rooms in the summer. Endless waiting times, regulatory measures (no access to emergency rooms without first calling 15) and even outright closures of the service: the problems affect the entire territory.
“ The a this Olympic Games bubble which overlooks everything and erases difficulties" , but " If we look at the situation in hospitals, we realize that the situation is at least equal to, or even worse than, that of 2023.", Dr. Marc Noizet, president of the emergency doctors' union Samu Urgences de France, told AFP.
In Ile-de-France and other places hosting Olympic events, he admits, " work has been done to ensure there are sufficient resources" . " But in the rest of the country, services are still suffering greatly.", with " pearl closures", describes the doctor.
“ Everywhere we identify real areas of great fragility", he laments. And this affects " large establishments, such as the Metz University Hospital, are facing even worse difficulties than last year"In the west, the Caen University Hospital experienced major problems with overcrowding in its emergency department in mid-July, with the department's doctors filing a strike notice – ineffective because it was followed by immediate requisitions.
"Not audible"
“ Currently, the service operates with 30 % of the theoretical workforce", explained Florian Michel, one of the emergency room doctors at the University Hospital, on France 3 Normandie. The University Hospital of Rennes, for its part, has warned that its emergency rooms, like those of two private clinics in the metropolitan area, will no longer be accessible until a notification from 15, between August 9 and 18. A first for this major regional hospital.
The case of Rennes illustrates a phenomenon denounced by Dr. Noizet, with emergency services in private hospitals " who give themselves the possibility of closing " due to a lack of caregivers, shifting the burden onto the public hospital." It's new and it's not audible"For the president of Samu Urgences de France, the Regional Health Agencies (ARS) must take the bull by the horns and impose" more efficient resource management » at the level of each territory.
According to a survey published in July by Drees, the statistical service of the social ministries, France had 719 emergency services in mid-2023, which had received between 10 and 290 patients on the day of the survey. In a recurring context of staff shortages", 54 of these emergency services (8%) " had to close completely at least once between mid-March and mid-June 2023", including 23 forced to close during the day and not just at night. The Pays de la Loire, Occitanie and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions" are the most concerned " by these episodes of complete closure, which affected, for half of them, the smallest services (less than 40 patients per day on average), noted the study.
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