The end of the Covid-19 epidemic is still far away in France. But fears are already being heard in hospitals about the consequences of the health crisis on the fate of other patients. "It scares me. Today we're talking about a third wave. The first wave is the current wave. The second wave, the possible risk that there will be a Covid push again. The third vague, it would be the outbreak of chronic diseases ", worries Francis Berenbaum, head of the rheumatology department of Saint-Antoine hospital in Paris, Tuesday in Without appointment on Europe 1.
Remote monitoring carried out "somehow"
The first explanation for this phenomenon anticipated by the caregiver lies in the reorganization of hospitals, which is also necessary in the fight against Covid-19. Francis Berenbaum's service has, for example, turned into "a post-emergency service". "We take care of all patients who come to the emergency room and for whom the problem is not related to the coronavirus," he explains. Moreover, "all specialty services have fully followed the movement," he said. Problem: "the patients who were hospitalized, whom we saw in day hospitals and who we saw face to face, we no longer see them", he says.
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They are mainly followed up by telephone, even by videoconference. But for Francis Berenbaum, this is done "somehow". "It is not optimal, but we can not do otherwise," he admits, while the nursing staff absolutely needs regular checkups of these patients.
The abnormal attitude of the patients
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But perhaps what worries the doctor even more is the attitude of his patients. He also expressed his surprise when twenty of them said they were in good shape recently. "It may seem curious to say that it is worrying when the patients tell us that they are fine. But from experience, it never happens," he explains. "The consultations, roughly speaking, are two thirds of patients who are doing well and a third of patients who are not doing well and for whom treatment must be rebalanced."
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Fear of going to hospital
To explain this situation, the healthcare professional formulates three hypotheses. In a context of major health crisis, where the deaths are counted by hundreds every day in the country, "the patients, consciously or unconsciously, say to themselves: 'I am not there, I will not complain'", assumes Francis Berenbaum. Another possibility: they do not want to come to the hospital because of a possible risk. "Which is not untrue," comments the rheumatologist. Finally, more simply still, some would not wish to "annoy the doctor" in the midst of an epidemic.