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Unionized doctors at a hospital in Brest, Finistère, are denouncing excessively long waiting times in emergency rooms, on average 23 hours, before seeing patients.
Benoît Corre is still shocked by his visit to the emergency room at Brest hospital (Finistère) a month ago. He was accompanying his 67-year-old father, who had suffered a stroke. They waited 18 hours. His father was taken care of, but the wait for the tests is interminable. According to the hospital’s unionized caregivers, this wait is far from exceptional. In the parking lot, they have posted the “wall of shame”: 127 sheets corresponding to 127 elderly patients who waited long hours over the summer before being taken care of.
“We have a 78-year-old patient who waited 34 hours on a stretcher in the emergency room,” Thomas Bourhis, nurse and general secretary of the CGT CHRU of Brest-Carhaix, is outraged. On average, these elderly patients would have waited 23 hours, according to the CGT. The unions point to a lack of beds and a lack of manpower. Management disputes these figures and assures that waiting in the emergency room does not mean a lack of care.
The press release from the CGT union at Brest Hospital
The press release from the management of Brest Hospital
Non-exhaustive list.