The flu epidemic is hitting ever harder and patients are arriving in large numbers at the emergency rooms of hospitals in Occitanie, which are also facing numerous cases of bronchiolitis and Covid. The Nîmes University Hospital has triggered the highest level of its “hospital in tension” plan and, in Montpellier, the CGT has made a “report of serious and imminent danger” to obtain resources.
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Patients aged 50 to 70 suffering from severe flu, children affected by bronchiolitis, and cases of Covid: faced with the influx of patients, Gard hospitals are on alert. In Nîmes, the Carémeau University Hospital yesterday evening triggered level 3 of its “hospital under tension” plan, the highest of this system.
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It involves the deprogramming of all non-essential same-day surgeries and certain hospitalizations, to allow emergency beds to be “emptied”. If the crisis were to worsen, the white plan would be triggered, “but we’re not there yet”specifies Magali Gehin, member of the CGT office and staff representative.
On Wednesday evening, the Nîmes hospital recorded a peak of 268 visits to the emergency room, confirming a high trend since the start of the new year. Normally, the average is 170 to 200 patients welcomed. And these are not minor pathologies: today, those who arrive need to be hospitalized for a period of four to six days and, often, placed on oxygen and under surveillance to prevent their condition from worsening. aggravates.
A situation that is all the more complicated as caregivers are also starting to fall ill. “The day before yesterday, we had a surge in sick leave. Fortunately, it has stabilized”according to Magali Gehin.
We put stretchers in the corridors, it’s stressful for everyone, including the caregivers. We must congratulate the staff who returned to work this weekend, everyone adapted.
-Magali Gehin, member of the CGT office and staff representative of the Carémeau University Hospital of Nîmes
“The private sector does not play the game, we saw it this weekend: they told us that they could not take our patients”laments the union representative. So at the Nîmes University Hospital, we are pushing the walls: a second bed has been added in the largest single rooms in all the departments where it was possible. In total, 19 additional beds.
A measure intended to compensate for the closures of downstream beds in recent years for the benefit of outpatient care. Upstream in the emergency room, it is the lack of staff that is sometimes lacking. If Nîmes has no shortage of emergency doctors, the same is not true in Alès and Bagnols-sur-Cèze. Which led to “regular exchanges with the public hospital teams of the Gard Cévennes Camargue regional hospital group (Alès, Bagnols-sur-Cèze, Uzès, Pont-Saint-Esprit)”specifies the CHU Carémeau.
A territorial coordination unit brings together all the establishments concerned in the territory, under the aegis of ARS Occitanie, in order to monitor the evolution of the situation in real time and adapt the measures taken to ensure the right direction. patients requiring hospitalization.
Press release from the Carémeau University Hospital of Nîmes
However, calling 15 before going to the emergency room is strongly recommended. This week, reception at Alès hospital is once again regulated. Admissions are limited to certain times: from 5:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. this Thursday and Friday, from 10 p.m. tomorrow evening to 8:30 a.m. Saturday and from 5:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. throughout the coming weekend. Only care for pregnant women and gynecological emergencies is maintained 24 hours a day.
In Hérault, the clinical picture is also gloomy. According to Pierre Renard, CGT union delegate at Montpellier University Hospital. In this public establishment, he says that waiting times at the moment in the emergency room can reach up to 12 to 16 hours, while the peak of the flu epidemic has not yet been reached. He also denounces the lack of cooperation from private clinics and appeals to the Regional Health Agency (ARS).
The trade unionist points out a risk of staff burnout. The CGT of Montpellier University Hospital has filed a report of “serious and imminent danger”, in order to alert people to the situation and open dialogue with management.
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