Faced with a lack of personnel, the Cotentin public hospital is setting up – for an indefinite period – a regulation system at the entrance to emergencies in the evening and at night.
No access to emergencies in the evening without dialing 15
During the day, the rules remain the same. In contrast, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 a.m., you will no longer be able to freely access the emergency rooms of the CHPC. You must first dial “15”. A regulatory doctor will answer you by less than a minute and will assess the situation. He can give you the green light to access emergencies, direct you to SOS Médecins or, if it can wait, to your general practitioner … if you have one.
A recurring lack of staff
In the Cherbourg emergency room, the workforce is made up of 9 doctors where it should in theory 24. This shortage of personnel is not new, and the use of temporary staff, very expensive (6 million euros per year for the hospital in Cherbourg), cannot fill all the gaps in the schedule.
” Every day, 40 to 50 people come to the emergency room in Cherbourg, although they have nothing to do there “, notes Benoît Arrivé, mayor of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin and president of the supervisory board of the hospital, which appeals to “Citizenship” Population.
We will hold on until exhaustion
This regulation in the evening and at night should make it possible to relieve a strained service. City medicine and SOS Médecins are also reorganizing themselves to support this system and meet the demand for care by, for example, opening new consultation slots between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.
There are not enough doctors in the area and already overworked. “We are at the max, but we will hold on until exhaustion “, promises Christophe Marchenay, president of SOS Médecins in Cherbourg.