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Several thousand pediatric caregivers sent an open letter to Emmanuel Macron on Saturday October 22. They claim that the health of children is in danger due to the shortage of beds, particularly in intensive care, and the epidemic of bronchiolitis.
Anna, 18 days old, has bronchiolitis. Received in the emergency room of the Jeanne de Flandre hospital in Lille (North)she will have to be transferred to another establishment for lack of space. In question, the lack of nurses when the epidemic explodes. “We don’t have extra nurses to open the winter beds that we usually open”says doctor François Dubos, head of department.
The widespread observation prompted more than 5,000 caregivers to send an open letter to Emmanuel Macron. Beyond bronchiolitis, they denounce the saturation of hospital pediatric services and its consequences. “Yesterday morning, I had to operate on a four-year-old child with a serious liver disease, whose parents had traveled 400 km to come to our center and the same morning, I learned that I could not operate on him for lack of place in continuous monitoring and intensive care”explains Doctor Virginie Fouquet-Languillat. The situation revolts the parents’ associations, some of which have signed the letter. The Minister of Health says he is studying ways to attract nursing staff again.