On vacation with his family in Celles-en-Bassigny, Gérald Claudet had to go to the emergency room in Langres to finally be hospitalized in the garage. An “unacceptable” situation for this forty-year-old who decided to appeal to the Ministry of Health.
Gérald Claudet lives in Seine-et-Marne. Originally from Celles-en-Bassigny, Gérald Claudet takes advantage of the holidays to visit his family. Unfortunately, the man suffered from stomach pains. “I asked the SAMU to guide me as best as possible between the on-call doctor and the Langres emergency department. The decision was made to send me to the emergency room to carry out tests. I entered there on Saturday October 26, around 4 p.m. and the hospital team welcomed me with the greatest care. After a CT scan and inflammation found in the intestine, I was told I would be hospitalized for several days,” begins Gérald Claudet.
Expecting to be transferred to a room in an upstairs department, the forty-year-old nevertheless spent his first night in the emergency room. The staff then explains that the hospital is short of beds and that he is therefore kept in the emergency room. He will also spend the whole of the next day there. Finally, Gérald Claudet was told he would be hospitalized for at least five days and that he would undoubtedly be transferred elsewhere.
During the night from Sunday to Monday, around 1 a.m., a nurse warned him of his move because the department needed his place. “These are emergencies so I can easily understand why they have to transfer me. But I am very surprised at the time at which I was moved but I certainly did not expect what happened next! » Indeed, in the middle of the night, the patient is transferred… to the garage!
“I couldn’t sleep a wink all night”
“I found myself relegated to a place with an uncovered and stained raw concrete floor, without toilets or showers, except in the adjoining central corridor. Beds are placed there as patients arrive, separated by screens covered with a hospital sheet! » The surprise is as brutal as the one and only night he will agree to spend there. “I couldn't close my eyes all night long, I heard the sound of mechanical ventilation, accompanied by a second shrill sound reminiscent of tinnitus resonating in this room. I download an application to measure the sound level and we reach 55 decibels! »
Outraged by this situation Gérald Claudet decided the next day that he would not spend two nights in this garage. “I saw the doctor who could only tell me that he understood and gave me a prescription. But he prescribed me pills which caused intestinal complications and which are much less effective than the infusions! »
“I was “parked” in a place unsuitable for care”
Since then, Gérald Claudet has not lost his temper. “I was “parked” in a place unsuitable for care and I felt considered like an animal! I'm only 45 years old, I'll get over it, but I can't imagine an older person, in a more advanced medical condition, in this same place! Even in bush hospitals in Africa we wouldn't do that! I decided to contact the management of this hospital, the ARS du Grand Est and the Ministry of Health by letter. It is unacceptable that in the 21st century, in France, we welcome patients in such conditions and that we make our healthcare workers work in such conditions!”
Annoyed and worried, especially for his family who live in the area and could experience this situation, Gérald Claudet is determined to follow through with his approach. “I am ready to come back and spend a stay in this garage but in the company of the director of the hospital or the ARS. I invite these people who decide to close the beds to live this extraordinary experience. They are not unaware of the situation, demonstrations have taken place but without much response or change. And that is unacceptable! »
Patricia Charmelot