Cancers that we no longer operate, kidneys that we no longer transplant, pathologies that we do not diagnose.
This scenario of the first wave of the Covid-19 epidemic, when it was necessary to treat as a priority the surge of patients affected by the coronavirus, to the detriment of others, the white coats no longer want it.
In the midst of the contaminations rebound, and while the government is preparing to announce new health measures on Thursday, September 30, around fifteen surgeons, hepatologists, oncologists, cardiologists are launching a cry of alarm in the Parisian - Today in France: this time, no more question of making collateral victims, as in the spring.
From all over France, they are calling on all hospitals to organize themselves, to keep places in intensive care at all costs, to create non-Covid channels.
"Colleagues, let's get ready," urges Professor François Faitot, a specialist in transplantation, behind the "Let's not forget our patients" forum.
"A price to pay for lives lost to cancer"
The too heavy toll of the first wave is still in everyone's mind: 28% of transplants in less from January to August compared to 2019, twice as many cardiac arrests outside the hospital in Paris, 20% at 30 % of delays in cancer diagnoses and even 4,000 to 8,000 additional deaths in France by 2025, according to a recent study by the Institut de Gustave Roussy.
"It is astonishing to see that we are pleased with the low mortality rate of Covid, compared to other countries, without asking the question of a possible loss of chance for all these other patients", denounce the signatories of the platform.
So now is the time to act, say caregivers.
The situation deteriorates from one week to another, nearly 20% of sheaves are now occupied by patients infected with the virus.
And if the increase continues, in Ile-de-France, they will represent 85% of total capacity in mid-November.
In the Ile-de-France region, in Grenoble, Montpellier, Lyon or even La Rochelle, the White Plan, mobilizing more resources for the coronavirus, has been triggered again.
And for the first time since deconfinement, hospitals in Paris have started to deprogram surgical procedures.
“We can only be concerned, breathes Axel Kahn, the president of the League against cancer.
The after-effects of the previous crisis have not disappeared, delays are accumulating between new operations and those to be made up.
Obviously, there will be a price to pay for lives lost to cancer ”.
"We are shifting complex operations"
On the ground, the fear of Covid-19 resurfaces.
“For two weeks, patients who have cardiovascular follow-ups have started to cancel their consultations again,” sighs Professor Claire Mounier-Vehier, cardiologist in Lille.
At the other end of France, in Marseille, places in intensive care are shrinking.
At the Timone hospital, there is indeed a department dedicated to pathologies of the liver, pancreas and transplant recipients, but out of 12 places, six are currently occupied by Covid patients.
“We have to take stock every morning with the resuscitators to find out if there is a place.
It's a hassle everywhere, deplores Emilie Grégoire, surgeon in this Marseille hospital.
We are in the process of delaying complex operations of the liver and pancreas, most of which are cancers.
That is no longer acceptable!
If we don't get organized, the toll will be heavier than for the Covid ”.
Overall, "the situation is under control, even if we remain very vigilant, because nobody knows how the epidemic will evolve", explains Professor François Kerbaul, director of harvesting and transplantation at the Biomedicine Agency, who has just delivered its recommendations to continue transplantation at all costs.
"It's a national priority," he insists.
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But on the side of associations, the galloping figures leave room for doubt.
"Under such conditions, one wonders how the transplants will be able to be maintained", wonders Yvanie Caillé, founder of Renaloo, intended for kidney patients.
During confinement, 220 kidneys were thrown out because they could not be transplanted.