Will Gien hospital have to close its emergency room at night, for an indefinite period? This is the solution envisaged from 1 March because the service, already understaffed, will only have one-third of operational staff at this date. Too little to run the adult emergency room at a normal pace, day and night, even if the SMUR would be maintained. “We have come to the wall. There is no alternative and we are very, very annoyed by it“says Doctor Séverin Dumont, hospital practitioner in the emergency room of Gien for twenty years.
“It is really not with lightness of heart that we are considering this closure”
“We are committed to our service” continues Dr. Dumont, who salutes the team’s efforts to remain united and efficient over the years. “We go back to our free time. we replace each other without ever needing to call on the interim. And there we are tired. It is really not with lightness of heart that we are considering this closure. it scares us and our families, our loved ones, our neighbours.“
At least two doctors and eleven nurses are missing
How did the Gien hospital come to consider closing the emergency room at night? He faced, in a short time, a wave of departures, for retirement, or to follow a spouse, or to join a liberal activity. “Two doctors out of a staff of thirteen emergency physicians, to whom nurses left in January, following vacancies“explains the interim director of the Gilles Varin Hospital Center. Departures that are not compensated because there are no staff available. “We had hoped to use temporary workers, it didn’t turn out to be exact.” admits Gilles Varin. “There is no one, it’s emptiness” confirms Dr. Dumont. “And Gien is a hospital with real activity. We are not attractive for potential temporary workers who will prefer, understandably, to choose less difficult emergency services.”
“Today, it is no longer possible to degrade further”
Unable to fill all the currently vacant positions, the Gien hospital is obliged to consider closing the emergency room at night, “most likely“solutions, as Gilles Varin calls it.”So far, we have compensated for three vacant positions, for months, with degraded organizations. Today, it is no longer possible to degrade further (…) by maintaining the service over a 24-hour hourly range. Out of twenty-four nurses neededthere are currently eleven missing.
Doctors, management, town hall of Gien, all are on the same wavelength: closing the emergency room at night would be heartbreaking, a blow to health in the Giennois, but for lack of a solution, it is indeed this looming situation. “The emergency team is exhausted. Even if the general population does not necessarily realize it, it has made enormous efforts to maintain an activity” says doctor Yann Lefevre. “For now, the closure is not official, but the lack of staff means an impossibility to work, an impossibility to ensure the safety of patient care.“
“Instead of putting the patient at the heart of the system, we put money at the heart of the system”
All recognize a powerlessness and a “bitterness“also, adds the deputy in charge of social affairs at the town hall of Gien, Catherine de Metz.It’s bitter to see that no one is able to take the time, to come together and say now, enough is enough. We alerted, we constantly tried to propose solutions. We were listened to from time to time, then the government changed” declares the former midwife also president of the supervisory board of the hospital. She believes that the current healthcare system is “falling apart“, a consequence for it of successive policies carried out since the 1970s.”Instead of putting the patient at the heart of the system, we put money at the heart of the system, progressive hospital reforms, health insurance reforms, everything worked together so that there was ultimately less supply of care and lower healthcare costs.”
If all hope for a “miracle“for emergencies in Gien, sudden recruitments, such as what was observed last September thanks to staff movements in other companies in the sector, or a solution from the Regional Health Agency which confirms a “work in progress” to avoid closing at night, Catherine de Metz has few illusions about the future. “We see this in emergencies, but also in the shortage of personnel, whether medical or paramedical. it no longer attracts. You may have to, I don’t know, change studies, nurse or doctor, try to find out why people don’t feel well, why they want to do something else. It is a set. And nothing is right.“
