The watchdog for prisons and psychiatric hospitals (General Controller of Places of Deprivation of Liberty, CGLPL) denounced on Tuesday in a report "serious violations of the rights" of patients in the psychiatric unit of the hospital in Melun (Seine-et-Marne).
In its report, the CGLPL notes in particular that, in this 88-bed unit, "the number of patient deaths" is "abnormally high": seven between January 1, 2024, and August 1, 2025, five of which were involuntary admissions. None of these deaths were suicides, it specifies.
The report criticizes the inadequate monitoring of patients for all non-psychiatric conditions. It cites the case of a patient whose sleep apnea was only "reported orally" between caregivers, without "written record in the medical file," or another case of "failure to raise any alarm regarding hypotension and an abnormal pulse."
"The methods of paramedical monitoring of isolated patients or those placed under restraint remain insufficient and their traceability is sometimes non-existent," notes the controller.
The report also deplores that "due to a lack of suitable public care provision in the area", minor patients are "hospitalized full-time in adult units of the psychiatric department", contrary to regulations.
"Minors hospitalized under voluntary care are subjected to isolation and restraint measures, in application of illegal decisions which, in addition to not always being formalized in writing, are not recorded in the documents serving as isolation and restraint registers," he criticizes.
The controller also believes that "the establishment has an excessive number of isolation rooms and is misusing them."
Finally, the auditor points out that "the statistics provided by the management of the facility regarding its involuntary treatment activity are unreliable." "A reliable procedure for collecting statistical data on psychiatric activity must be implemented without delay," he emphasizes.
These recommendations were published in the Official Journal on Tuesday. The Ministry of Health has four weeks to submit its comments.
The South Ile-de-France Hospital Group responded on Tuesday by highlighting, in a press release, "the numerous advances" made since a first visit by the CGLPL in May 2022.
The hospital maintains that it has taken action to "limit the use of isolation and restraint measures, which are decreasing." It asserts that a medical consultation has been "systematized upon entry into isolation" and that "a single register of isolation and restraint measures is now in place."
"Minors are no longer placed in isolation rooms," he assures, noting that "a protocol for the admission of adolescents was finalized in 2026."
The hospital points out, however, that Seine-et-Marne suffers from a "low number of child psychiatrists" and "the absence of suitable hospitalization units for children and adolescents, particularly those with suicidal thoughts."
"The mobilization on this issue must be considered in a more comprehensive way," he writes, seemingly turning to the government.
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