Faced with the flu epidemic, which is overwhelming the country’s emergency rooms, 87 hospitals in France have triggered their white plan, to mobilize additional staff and open new beds. Regional delegate of the French Hospital Federation and director of the Orléans University Hospital, Olivier responded to France 3 to get a clearer picture of the situation.
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Hospital alert. The flu epidemic is hitting the population very hard in January 2025, and consequently the emergency services in France. And, even though the epidemic peak has not yet been reached, 87 hospitals in France have triggered the “white plan”, a means of dealing with an exceptional situation.
In Center-Val de Loire, several hospitals have taken the plunge, faced with a very large influx of patients in the emergency room, particularly elderly patients. Four hospitals have activated the white plan in the region: in Dreux in Eure-et-Loir, in Vierzon and Saint-Amand-Montrond in Cher, as well as the Orléans University Hospital.
Olivier Boyer, director of the Orléans establishment, and regional delegate of the French Hospital Federation (FHF), responded to France 3, to try to see more clearly the situation.
Very concretely, what is a white plan?
The white plan is made to deal with exceptional situations. It serves to mobilize caregivers and bring back the required skills. Today, we are in a situation of an epidemic peak which is rising, and which at some point will come back down. And we have an influx of patients in the emergency room.
Concretely, we have opened around ten beds since yesterday [jeudi 9 janvier] in the departments, and we will open another ten on Monday, to prevent patients from staying too long in the emergency room. We are also opening five continuing care beds in intensive care, for people suffering from flu-like illnesses which can be very, very virulent.
-Where can we find additional resources to apply this white plan?
During Covid, we had to mobilize clinic staff, civil security… This is not the case. The idea is to mobilize medical and non-medical staff, internal to the hospital, on a voluntary basis. And I thank them. These staff will be required to do a little more, for example.
I also asked that we deprogram patients scheduled in medicine, with the exception of chemotherapy and patients who need care without which they would have to go to the emergency room. Same thing in surgery, so that medical beds can be fully mobilized for patients linked to the epidemic peak.
We don’t even know if the epidemic peak has passed, will the Orléans hospital and those in the region hold up?
I am hopeful that yes, that we will be out of this situation within a fortnight. But it is true that the situation is tense everywhere. I asked the hospitals in the area if they could accommodate our patients, and they too are overbooked.
But the white plan is not response X to situation Y, the response varies depending on the situation. We must always be able to adapt to what happens to us, that’s what we do. What is certain is that it is exhausting for the healthcare teams, as soon as the scheduled activity is disrupted.
What message do you want to send to the population?
We must always remember that vaccination protects. And that, if you are vaccinated and you have the flu, you will have it less severely than without the vaccine.
For activities to be rescheduled after the end of the peak, the risk is that cancellations result in a certain renunciation of care. It’s annoying, because we don’t have enough doctors in the region. But things will resume after the peak, we must avoid this renunciation.
And the population must follow the recommendations carefully. In the event of flu syndrome, you must call your general practitioner, the CPTS [Communauté professionnelle territoriale de santé] if it is not available. And as a last resort, center 15, unless the respiratory situation is dramatic. There, you must immediately call center 15 or the fire brigade.
