This summer, there were more days of closure than opening in the emergency departments of Sarthe hospitals. At Le Bailleul, the service is notably remained closed between 80 and 90% of the time. Only Le Mans hospital has kept the department open almost permanently. “He withstood the shock at the cost of an important internal organization“, explains Stephan Domingo, the director in Sarthe of the Regional Health Agency.Now, we need to look at and understand the postponement effects of the closure of peripheral emergency services and the regulation of access to emergency services.“
Because since July 2, access is conditioned: patients must call 15 or 116-117 before going to the emergency room. “It allowed us to refocus on urgent patients, we saw an increase in visits to the emergency room in Le Mans, but an overall drop in visits“He continues. This device is currently planned until the end of the month, it could be extended according to the result of a national evaluation.
No permanent closure
For the moment, the permanent closure of an emergency service is not envisaged. “Tensions in human resources have led to occasional closures, but on the side of the agency, we want to maintain them absolutely“, says Stephan Domingo. “Now, the difficulty is to recruit the necessary personnel to ensure the activity of these services..”
To compensate for these closures, devices have emerged such as emergency mobile paramedic teams. “The results are very positive, we currently have three in Sarthe, in Chateau-du-Loir, Saint-Calais and in Bailleul. A fourth is in prospect for the end of the year at La Ferté-Bernard.” But if “securing vital emergencies” is guaranteed, this is not the case for access to day-to-day care for 100,000 Sarthois who have no attending physicians.
Monkey pox pharmacies
The Regional Health Agency expects in particular the sustainability of the experimentation of the local medical service, the center having moved at the end of August from the hospital of Le Mans to the avenue de Paderborn in the city center. Especially since the ARS intends to rely on city medicine to deal with epidemics. After the launch of a center of vvaccination and screening for monkeypox at the hospital, two Le Mans pharmacies will also offer vaccination slots from next week. These are the Pointe pharmacy, in the Batignolles district, and the university pharmacy.
Regarding the Covid, “we will have to learn to live with it, we are below the regional and national average with 120 cases per 100,000 inhabitants“, reassures the director in Sarthe of the Regional Health Agency. “But we know that the autumn and winter period is also conducive to a rebound, but will at this time have new, more up-to-date vaccines compared to those used last year.“