This was never seen before on Tuesday, February 6: 25 patients ended up in the emergency room due to a lack of available hospital beds. They were installed in the short-term hospitalization department, in the examination box and even in the corridors, while waiting…
This was never seen before on Tuesday, February 6: 25 patients ended up in the emergency room due to a lack of available hospital beds. They were also installed in the short-term hospitalization department, in exam boxes and in the corridors, while awaiting admission to the ad hoc department. It is as if the emergency room has become a (crowded) hospital waiting room. In short, overcrowded, emergency rooms can no longer accommodate patients.
“We serve as a buffer”
“We serve as a buffer when the hospital is full. For months, we’ve been seeing crowds. This time of year, it’s a classic. But we have never reached this level of stress,” commented Dominique Tourette, the doctor responsible for the crisis.
Explanation? It is the story of the scissors effect. On the one hand, there is a flu peak, but also a demographic that sees an increase in the number of elderly people and patients suffering from chronic respiratory conditions. On the other hand, 20 to 25 beds are closed in the hospital due to lack of doctors, especially in geriatric medicine and cardiology-pulmonology. Although management is recruiting, some doctors are tired, others change direction, go to the private sector, to retirement homes or to private practice where the constraints (night and weekend shifts, etc.) are often lower.
No one knows how long this situation will last, it is the hotel business
There was an immediate response this Tuesday morning with the triggering of the emergency unit and the search for a solution with management. As at La Rochelle Hospital on January 31, the White Plan was triggered so that the emergency room would not be closed.
Thus, patients admitted to the emergency room were placed in different departments, for example cardio-pulmonology and general medicine, where beds were free and where doctors and caregivers were able to attend to them. “Nobody knows how long this situation will last, it’s a hotel business,” Dr. Tourette continues, inviting everyone to “use the emergency wisely, without rushing to other hospitals, without putting pressure on them.” But “.
