Two out of three emergency services have closed at least once this summer, according to Samu-Urgences de France

The survey was carried out directly with emergency services, Samu and Smur for the period from July 1 to August 31.

Two out of three emergency services closed at least once during the months of July and August 2024, according to a survey by the Samu-Urgences de France union published on Tuesday, September 17.

This survey was carried out directly with emergency services, Samu and Smur for the period from July 1 to August 31. 51% of Smur and 48% of Emergency Reception Services (SAU) responded to the union. According to the survey, 202 emergency services, out of the 331 consulted, closed at least once during the summer (61% of respondents). Of these closures, two out of five (41%) were continuous and were frequent for more than a third (37%).

In 2023, 163 emergency services had to close at least once during the summer, or almost one in two services. Samu-Urgences de France also warns about the situation of the Smur, emergency and resuscitation vehicles with a doctor, a nurse and an ambulance driver on board. Nearly 80% of them (174) were unable to operate continuously during the summer. 127 had to close at least once and 48 experienced frequent or continuous closures. In 2023, 166 Smurs were unable to operate continuously, i.e. 70% of the services consulted.

In hospitals, 23% of the institutions that responded to the survey closed intensive care beds permanently this summer, in addition to the usual summer closures. This represents a total of nearly 270 intensive care beds closed in 56 institutions. A quarter of respondents note an increase in difficulties in 2024 on critical care beds compared to 2023.

Regarding beds installed in medicine, surgery or obstetrics, two thirds (65%) closed beds permanently this summer, in addition to the usual scheduled summer closures. This means that more than 1,500 additional beds were closed in the establishments participating in this survey, even though activity did not decline during the summer, the union specifies, with the need for hospital beds remaining stable.

Samu-Urgences de France also points out that the tension downstream of the emergency services was greater this summer 2024 compared to previous years, leading to an increase in the number of patients waiting on a stretcher in the emergency services. The union denounces a “institutional abuse” which consists of “forcing more and more patients to wait several hours or even several days on a stretcher in an emergency corridor, due to the lack of available beds to hospitalize them”.

“Health security is sometimes no longer assured, including for vital emergencies“, warns Samu-Urgences de France which presents in the report its priorities for “improve patient care and maintain hospital emergency teams”. Among its 10 recommendations, the union would like to definitively prohibit the possibility of hospitalizing a patient in a corridor, for example by dedicating a place specifically for the hospitalization of unscheduled patients arriving from the emergency room.

The report also calls for a “strategic thinking” on the territorial network of emergency services to stop “definitely their functioning degraded”. Finally, to guarantee “equity of access to urgent care”Samu-Urgences de France believes that the Smur “should no longer be used as a variable for adjusting emergency staff numbers”. “The management of vital emergencies must be a firm commitment by the health authorities”, insists the union.