After the latest testimony from a patient hospitalized in the Langres emergency garage, the Regional Health Agency (ARS) issued an injunction to close the said garage and initiated additional investigations. It remains to be seen what solutions will be proposed.
Hospitalized on October 26 in the Langres emergency room, Gérald Claudet ended up in the garage. A bad experience that he wanted to denounce in our columns (read jhm daily from 1is november). This is not the first time that we have echoed this hospitalization “system”, denounced by both the nursing staff and the families of the patients concerned. Already, in June 2023, the daughter of a septuagenarian had expressed her anger at the conditions of her father's care.
But this time, Gérald Claudet's story is making the headlines in the national media and he does not intend to stop there. He, in fact, sent a letter to the ARS du Grand Est and the Ministry of Health to demand accountability. The ARS replied to open “a complaint”, but we wanted to contact them, in turn, to find out what action will be taken.
A first injunction in 2023
In its response, the Agency indicates that it “became aware of this situation a few days ago” but recognizes that the use of the garage is not unknown to it. “Similar situations in this establishment were reported in 2023, which led the Agency to initiate an emergency inspection. At the end of this inspection, the ARS issued an injunction on June 30, 2023 to immediately cease the unacceptable use of the “SMUR Garage” premises for the installation of patients potentially belonging to the Short-Term Hospitalization Unit. . » And added that the ARS “had accompanied this injunction with a certain number of other prescriptions in order to find practices guaranteeing good quality and safety of care for patients. The establishment had indicated supporting evidence that it had returned the premises to its initial functions and provided a certain number of guarantees so that the situation does not recur, with short-term and longer-term measures (works). »
But what solutions?
But, it is clear that the garage continues to welcome patients, despite all the good will of the staff, who are just as outraged at having to resort to this solution. The ARS claims to be carrying out “additional investigations to understand the conditions under which a patient could have once again been hospitalized in this room and to mobilize with the establishment all the necessary actions to put a definitive end to such practices. »
A seriously questioning investigation because this “system” of care is only the result of a lack of places following successive closures of services. The latest is that of the SSR in 2022 leading to the closure of around thirty beds. And the project for 2028, presented by the ARS, will not help anything since it is planned to further reduce the capacity in beds and places from 175 to 102. Asked about a possible reopening of beds in Langres, the ARS is, this time, remained silent…
“They have all the information, we gave it to them! »
The announcement of additional investigations by the ARS makes Dr. Vincent Escudier, former director of Langres Emergency Department, cringe and resigned from his position as manager last October. “This garage was equipped with six beds to deal with exceptional situations and it has become routine, due to lack of space. Since the closure of the SSR service in 2022, we have sent them regular alert emails on the situation, in particular the presence in the Emergency Department of patients with serious physical or psychiatric pathologies. We had up to 20 patients hospitalized in the emergency room in January! A very significant episode for the teams concerned about the quality of care for our patients. So carrying out investigations is schizophrenic! They have all the information because we provided it to them! »
Information which all points to the lack of beds in the hospital which leads to this situation. The ARS had legitimized the closures by a lack of personnel which, once again, angers Dr Escudier. “We close beds under the argument of lack of staff, but no one tries to understand why the teams at this hospital, which was doing well, saw its staff lose motivation or even leave the establishment”
According to the former director of Emergencies, the ARS should instead look at the “impersonal and purely administrative” personnel management which leads to this flight of doctors and nurses. “We are being told about an “ambulatory shift”, which should lead to the transfer of patient care to general practitioners or specialists. But they do not take into account the medical desert in which we find ourselves and which will not get better since in 2028, more than 40% of general practitioners and 50% of specialists will retire! »
Patricia Charmelot
