Until recently, the Saint-Brice clinic, on the outskirts of Provins (Seine-et-Marne) enjoyed a good reputation. In digestive surgery in particular. Reality TV stars came there to have surgery discreetly to lose a few pounds. But since mid-July, the operating theater has been closed, by decision of the Regional Health Agency (ARS) of Île-de-France, which has been closely monitoring the establishment for two years.
In a decision that we publish below, the ARS explains that with on average only one anesthesiologist present in the establishment, “the situation is very worrying”. The Saint-Brice clinic has two operating rooms, hospital beds and a consultation service. The regulations therefore require him to permanently have two anesthetist doctors assisted by a nurse anesthetist. Which is not the case, hence the decision of the ARS.
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So far nothing extraordinary, when we know the difficulties of recruitment of health establishments. But what the ARS does not write, and what the staff revealed to us, is that for months (from January to June 2022), the management of the clinic would have artificially inflated its workforce.
“On the schedules of the operating room, there are anesthesiologists who are registered but who have never come to the clinicdenounces a surgeon from the clinic, who prefers to remain anonymous because he is still in office. Their presence on the paintings is fictitious. In theory, as far as we are concerned, the regulations require two anesthesiologists present on site, plus a nurse anesthetist.”
“The reality is that some days there is only one anesthesiologist. It is completely illegal”.
A surgeon from the Saint-Brice clinicat franceinfo
The staff of the Saint-Brice clinic, who alerted the ARS on several occasions, showed us the schedules that we present to you below. “You see there: it says ‘doctor H’. He actually works in another clinic 30 kilometers awaypoints the surgeon. Doctor N., he works in a neighboring department.“
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In June, the establishment medical commission, which brings together all the doctors, was moved by this situation in a report addressed to the management and to all the nursing staff, which we publish below. “Doctor N. has never been seen in the establishmentcan we read. There are many dysfunctions that jeopardize patient safety“.
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Beyond Character Partially “fictitious” of these schedules, three members of the medical staff of the Saint-Brice clinic whom we met affirm that the management would have remunerated one of these anesthesiologists so that he agrees to appear on the schedules.
“Doctor N., whom I know personally, once told me that he was graciously paid to be on the board but that he never set foot in the clinic.”
Elisabeth*, former nurse at the Saint-Brice clinicfranceinfo
When contacted, Doctor N. did not respond to our messages. We joined the clinic where he works, 70 kilometers from Saint-Brice. She confirmed to us that Doctor N. was indeed part of her staff.
The presence of a single anesthesiologist to ensure the operating room, post-operative follow-up and consultations is not only contrary to the regulations. “It puts patients’ lives at riskr”, believes ELisabeth*, former nurse in Saint-Brice. She preferred to resign in the spring after an incident, corroborated by the testimony of two other doctors. “The anesthesiologist took a patient back to me in the recovery room and extubated him. He went up to do his consultations as if nothing had happened and left me alone with the patient.she says. Except that the patient had a little problem. He desaturated, he decompensated.”
“The anesthesiologist had to come down but hey, I had to act before! So from a safety point of view, we were zero. The patient’s life was at stake.”
Elisabeth*, ex-nurse at the Saint-Brice clinicat franceinfo
The nurse continues, bitterly: “I’m not a doctor, I do my best but I have my limits, too. It was the last straw that made me quit”. She has since worked in another structure.
The clinic’s operating theater is closed until the end of September. The Regional Health Agency has asked management to remedy its staffing problems by then. The ARS did not wish to react to our information. She tells us that “the so-called contradictory phase is still in progress. Depending on the results of this phase, sanctions are possible”.
The director of the establishment did not respond to our multiple requests. The Saint-Brice clinic belongs to the private group Avec, which has already been talked about for its management of the Grenoble mutual clinic. A complaint, which we revealed to you in June, was also filed for “embezzlement” and “illegal taking of interest”. The Grenoble public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation.
*Names have been changed