In Le Havre and Rouen, hospital emergency services are saturated at the start of the Easter holidays
Many patients who cannot find an appointment in town go to the emergency room at Rouen University Hospital and Jacques Monod Hospital. Exhausted caregivers are on sick leave in the services. Emergencies are under pressure.
“Do not come to the hospital directly, call us on 15 for something serious or at 116 117 for the opinion of a liberal doctor for orientation advice”, strongly advises Pauline Richoux, Deputy Director General of Le Havre Hospital.
Covid, influenza and gastroenteritis viruses affect both patients and caregivers. In this holiday period which begins, the city doctors are on leave.
40% more patients have presented since April 5. There are about 200 crossings per day.
The medical director of SAMU Le Havre, Francis le Sire, summarizes the situation:
We have a population that no longer has an attending physician, which naturally goes to the emergency room. Private clinics have difficulty operating their emergency services
Francis le Sire, medical director of SAMU
The Rouen University Hospital also calls on people who do not adapt to emergencies to find another solution. Wait times will be very long for these patients.
The management of the Rouen University Hospital specifies that the necessary staff is present but that beds are closed in several departments due to absence of staff. (between 11 and 17%)
“We make sure that the Emergency teams always remain in number. It is in the downstream services that we have more beds closed than in other years and more difficulty in absorbing the flow that there is in the emergency room to hospitalize patients”
In Le Havre and Rouen, hospital emergencies under pressure
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©M. Fourrier/ E. Do Nascimento Gongalves/ France Televisions
CGT Santé 76 believes that this is an absurd situation:
“It is unacceptable for us that we appeal to the population so that they no longer come to the emergency room of this or that hospital, it is understandable. On one of the beds closed in greater numbers than in other years, patients stay a little longer in the emergency room. It is unsatisfactory that patients stay in the emergency room instead of being hospitalized in the departments”
(François His, departmental health secretary CGT 76)
In December, a indefinite strike had been entrusted to the emergency room of the CHU. Additional beds had been opened after an extraordinary health and safety committee.