End of the summer tunnel in Toulouse hospitals and clinics: what next?
After a dreaded month of August due to holidays and lack of staff, health establishments hope to have passed “the hardest part”. But for what return? At the Toulouse University Hospital, as in the clinics of the metropolis, a return to a classic level of activity is announced for mid-September.
The summer of 2022 had been announced as that of all the dangers in health establishments, with, at the head of the bow, emergency services ultra-solicited to compensate for the closures of city medicine cabinets and the closures of beds in several hospital departments. And the period was indeed difficult, especially during this month of August.
“Between the drop in activity for the necessary price of leave and the lack of staff, we have, as announced, closed 450 beds. The closures, on several occasions, of emergency services of clinics in the metropolis, have created a real relationship with us. Our Purpan and Rangueil emergencies have been recorded between 300 and 350 passages per day, a figure which does not exceed 250 in summer, ”explains Christophe Mazin, secretary general of the University Hospital Center (CHU) of Toulouse.
Bed reopening target for mid-September
In particular, the establishment has worked tirelessly to find solutions downstream of emergencies. “The clinics have played the game by freeing up beds in the trauma, orthopedics and digestive sectors. And the Regional Health Agency has distributed its aid so that follow-up care centers and hospitals welcoming patients”, adds Christophe Mazin for whom “this is proof that we can still improve the management of beds in post -emergency. While the pressure was the same as last year, rather than deprogramming 20% of the activity, we looked for solutions on outings”.
A key that will certainly be useful for the expected reopening of closed beds by mid-September. With, of course, the continuation of recruitment. “There are still personnel to be found, we must remain offensive on this”. In the emergency room, where the CHU indicates that there are no vacant positions, 36 additional positions have been granted following the strike action at the start of the summer. To date, a quarter of these additional positions have been recruited and the needs are crying out in other departments such as psychiatry, hematology or internal medicine in oncology.
The start of the new school year will be hot on the social level with, in focus, in December, the elections of staff representatives. Two days of mobilization are planned by the CGT on September 22 and 29 for the defense of hospitals.
Clinics still under pressure
In clinics, night shifts remain the most sought after; their lack materializes directly through service closures. “We are as worried as last year but we still managed to recruit 25 nurses this summer for a post price in the coming weeks. We claim that the worst is behind us, ”says Fabrice Derbias, director of the Toulouse center of the Ramsay group which brings together the clinics of L’Union, Croix du sud (in Quint-Fonsegrives) and Les Cèdres (in Cornebarrieu). The tension is not yet over, however, the Union emergencies were to remain closed this Sunday and “all the dates are not yet secure for the Cedars emergencies”.
In these three establishments, the objective is to return to the most “normal” level of activity possible within three weeks. “For lack of personnel, we will not reach our total capacity but we have learned to adapt, in particular by giving more space to outpatient care”, adds Fabrice Derbias.