• In Laval, in Mayenne, the emergency department has two thirds of missing doctors.

  •  Caregivers also complain about the dilapidated nature of their premises

At the foot of a huge tower, the alert is launched on a white sheet: "Emergency to emergencies".

Partially closed at night in November, the emergency rooms of the Laval hospital (Mayenne) are on the verge of asphyxiation, with two thirds of doctors missing.

Almost two months ago, staff began an indefinite strike against a situation "disastrous for the people".

With 35,000 visits per year, the service is the benchmark in Mayenne, the sixth least endowed department in France in general practitioners, according to INSEE.

For lack of an attending physician or a quick appointment, many Mayenne people arrive in the emergency room.

Doctor Caroline Brémaud, head of emergencies, chronicles his chaotic daily life on Twitter "to bring the health debate to the public."

“At 12:30 am, between thrombolysis and a seizure, you also have to manage the planning for the weeks to come… Sixteen twelve-hour slots to fill,” she says on video.

Partially closed at night

"To function without replacements or overtime, it takes 16 to 18 full-time equivalent doctors and there are five of us," she says, pink stethoscope around her neck. "We put the lives of patients in danger," says the forty-something, regularly forced to return to work during her vacation. Due to a lack of doctors, the service partially closed at night in early November, to everyone's surprise. Apart from the vital emergencies still open, the patients were redirected to about thirty kilometers. "It's disastrous for the population," says a "demoralized" nurse. If the arrival of the health reserve has loosened the noose, it is "a relief device", remind the unions.

In November, the hospital's 1,000 nurses and orderlies received a text message from management asking them to volunteer for weekend guards due to "very high tension" on the beds.

“They realized the day before a weekend that the emergencies were full, with zero beds available to relieve them.

It was necessary to wildly reopen twelve ”, vitupère Maxime Lebigot, FO union representative.

"In 20 years, more than 800 beds have been destroyed"

General Manager Christophe Menuet is reassuring: "We had a significant influx and as there were no beds available, we reopened, like every winter, an additional wing, which requires calling on staff on rest". Emergency physicians also complain about the dilapidated nature of their premises. “We are in a negative spiral. In 20 years, more than 800 beds have been destroyed. We are now thinking about an “Algeco” to extend emergencies, it's tinkering, ”denounces the mayor of Laval Florian Bercault (DVG), who is demanding 185 to 260 million euros to renovate the hospital. As part of the Ségur de la santé, the Laval hospital center should benefit from 39 million.

Faced with medical desertification, voices are also pleading to better regulate the installation of doctors.

“We don't have the sea, the mountains or the sun”, ironically Maxime Lebigot.

"The situation is quite catastrophic and is getting worse, we always suffer from the aberration of the numerus clausus and desertification also affects the hospital", underlines Pascal Grandet, president of the Audace 53 association, at the origin of a call to demonstrate on December 4 in Paris to defend the public hospital.

Health

Draguignan: Mobilization against the closing of emergencies at night

Nantes

Nantes: Emergencies saturate, the CHU launches an appeal to the population

  • Health

  • Medicine

  • Laval

  • Emergency room

  • Society

  • 0 comment

  • 0 share

    • Share on Messenger

    • Share on Facebook

    • Share on twitter

    • Share on Flipboard

    • Share on Pinterest

    • Share on Linkedin

    • Send by Mail

  • To safeguard

  • A fault ?

  • To print