Doctor Nicolas Winter is a doctor in the pediatric emergencies of the hospital of Valenciennes, in the North. He made an appointment with us in the morning: it is, he explains, the only quiet moment of the day.
“It is always a rise in power. You have people who are going to drop in. Afterwards, there are some who will arrive in groups. As the day progresses we have waves, especially around 6 p.m., for example, and the children will accumulate in the waiting room. When we have a table with 40 patients and we are four caregivers, we cannot duplicate ourselves. There is always an extended wait, up to 9 hours of waiting. We have a waiting room that is always full, overflowing and we try to bail out a little as best we can. In fact, it’s like riding a wave and trying to stay with your head above the water.. “
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It is necessary to manage the incomprehension or even the aggressiveness of certain parents. “We have children who arrive for more serious things, who take us more time and who will come first. Suddenly, that’s also what will create this kind of discontent. People are at their wit’s end, they are waiting for a lot. They are also worried about their children, which is legitimate. ‘Why is my child not seen yet and this one that I saw pass, he has been seen before?’“
“There is an exasperation which is mainly linked to fatigue. It generates stress, and stress generates conflict.”
Dr Winter, emergency doctorto franceinfo
Bronchiolitis, winter illnesses … At the moment, the four doctors in the department take care of up to 120 sick children every day. And often “bobology” occupies a lot of their time. “I am not throwing stones because I can understand that some parents come: they have no means of recourse. When you have a child who is going to ‘heat up’, not be well, you usually have to go maybe after 48 hours or even the next day to see your doctor. But if your GP doesn’t have room for a week or two, what do you do? You have no recourse. We have city medicine that is running out of steam. That, it must be said. It’s not just the hospital that’s out of breath: city medicine too. “
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The doctor believes that many consultations could be avoided if parents were educated, for example if they were explained how to monitor and manage their child’s fever.
Dr Winter’s workdays last 16 hours, and even 24 hours for his colleagues: “We work in a row. We try to take breaks by cutting, taking turns for a few minutes to be able to go to eat, but we are 16 hours in a row. And my pediatrician colleagues, 24 hours in the emergency room. Me, I know that I get out of 4 pm when I wake up the next day at 1 or 2 pm, because anyway we are emptied. We are emptied because we see patients continuously, we must manage the anxiety of parents, we must know how to think about the patients we see, know how to reflect on the seriousness, on the exams that we should give and it’s always something that will drain your batteries. So in the end you are logically exhausted. “
The same goes for childcare auxiliaries and nurses: many positions remain vacant for lack of candidates. “We have two nurses for 40 beds. The workload is monstrous and it is dangerous, for the staff and for the children. “
“The remaining question, which is perhaps the most important, is: if we don’t do it, who is going to do it?”
Dr Winter, emergency doctorto franceinfo
Under these conditions, Dr. Winter says he understands those of his colleagues who give up, who resign: “I understand it and often I wonder why they haven’t quit before. “And he himself wonders if he should stay in the hospital: “It is very possible that one day soon, I will suspend my activity for a few months to catch my breath. A caregiver must always be able to say stop because there is also the person’s own health. guard being extremely tired and demoralized, I do not hide it.I can come out of my guard wondering why I continue to do this job and especially this position, in fact.“
The testimony of Dr Winter, collected by Solenne Le Hen
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