Many emergency services are forced to close temporarily due to lack of caregivers

Increased activity and staff shortages are forcing some emergency services to temporarily close their doors this summer.

Many emergency services are forced to close temporarily this summer, due to a lack of professionals and an increase in activity, as noted by the France Bleu network.

COUNTRY OF THE LOIRE

For the first time, the Laval emergency room will be open only six nights in September, assures France Bleu Mayenne. In a press release, the citizens’ association against medical deserts points out that in July the service was closed for a total of 22 nights, and 18 for the month of August.

In Sarthe, the Bailleul emergency room is closed in August on weekends, public holidays and every night from 11pm to 8:30am, according to information from France Bleu Maine. The FO Santé union in the region also assures that “in Maine-et-Loire, the emergency service of the Anjou clinic was closed for 15 nights in July and will be closed again for 15 nights” in August.

These temporary closures have consequences for other hospitals located nearby. The FO Santé des Pays de Loire union deplores in a press release the saturation of the adult emergency department of the Nantes University Hospital (Loire-Atlantique) due in particular to “the closure of the Ancenis emergency room every day from 4 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. from July 5 to September 1, announced at the beginning of July by France Bleu Loire Océan.

This situation is all the more tense as in Vendée the emergency services in Montaigu are also closed from July 13 to August 19. “without guarantee of reopening”, Force Ouvrière alert. The union denounces a “drastic drop in access to care, lack of doctors and nurses causing hundreds of bed closures in the region and thousands of beds” at the national level.

PROVENCE-ALPES-CÔTE D’AZUR

In Vaucluse, the emergency room at Carpentras hospital has been open only in the morning (from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.) since Tuesday and for the next three months, reports France Bleu Vaucluse. Only life-threatening emergencies and gynecological and obstetric emergencies will be admitted. The hospital therefore recommends that patients call 15 before going, or go through their doctor, unscheduled care centers or the on-call medical center.

NEW AQUITAINE

In Dordogne, the emergency room at Sarlat hospital has been closed since Tuesday until 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, warns France Bleu Périgord. This temporary closure was decided due to a lack of emergency doctors, with both doctors on sick leave.

In Charente-Maritime, the La Rochelle-Ré-Aunis hospital group and the Rochefort and Saintes hospitals have been forced to regulate access to their pediatric emergency departments since June 26 and until September 15, due to an insufficient number of pediatricians and the increased activity linked to the summer period. In concrete terms, between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m., patients are invited to call the 15 center before going there, so that it can direct them to the most appropriate care solution. In Saintes, the hospital had to tighten the screws again for the month of August. Since August 12, pediatric emergency departments have been closed from 5 p.m. to 9 a.m., as well as on weekends and public holidays.

GRAND-EAST

Lorraine hospitals have also experienced some disruptions this summer, warns France Bleu Lorraine Nord. For example, the Briey Hospital Center (Meurthe-et-Moselle) was forced to temporarily suspend emergency room reception from Tuesday, July 30 at 4 p.m. to Wednesday, July 31 at 9 a.m. Delivery of deliveries was also suspended from July 18 at 11 p.m. to Saturday, July 20 at 8:30 a.m., due to a lack of caregivers. In Saint-Avold (Moselle), the hospital center had to adapt the operation and access to its emergency rooms, on the nights of August 2 and 3, 2024 from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m., advising the population not to go there spontaneously.