Hospitals are saturated with sick children. The bronchiolitis epidemic is raging almost everywhere in France and especially in New Aquitaine. The region has been classified in the epidemic phase by the Regional Health Agency since October 12. In this context, 4,000 pediatric caregivers address this Saturday an open letter to the President of the Republic
, Emmanuel Macron. Among them, eight caregivers work in Périgueux. They are paediatricians, childcare workers or nurses, in the hospital or in private practice.
Caregivers denounce the lack of beds and doctors in pediatrics
Caregivers denounce the lack of resources in pediatric wards. For lack of beds and staff, they explain that sick children are hospitalized in unsuitable services, or in establishments sometimes several hours away from home. Some children also find themselves forced to leave the hospital earlier, due to lack of space. It is the result of a “irresponsible political inaction“according to caregivers.
At the Périgueux hospital, the number of patients with bronchiolitis is on the rise. “We have a 50% increase in activity in one month” says Dr. Fritsch. The epidemic arrives three to four weeks in advance and affects very young children. “What worries us is that it is combined with a new wave of covid, continues the doctor. We are always at just-in-time during an epidemic.”
Health professionals are asking the President of the Republic for “urgent measures” to have more staff in the pediatric wards.