Lack of beds and chronic understaffing: hospitals are still suffering at a time when new Covid-19 patients are flocking to them, especially in intensive care.
Currently, France has around 5,000 beds in intensive care units.
A little more than 1,200 are now occupied by Covid patients.
Nothing to do with the month of April when we were able to reach up to 7,000 patients in critical care, but the services are filling again quickly.
Respirators and drugs essential for resuscitation (curares, hypnotics) have been stored to allow the treatment of 29,000 patients in total, announced Sunday the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran.
But no immediate bed opening, whether in intensive care or elsewhere, has been announced.
The 4,000 beds promised by the Segur agreements have not yet arrived in the services.
However, in 2019, 3,400 beds in total had been closed, 100,000 in 20 years.
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Since spring, no permanent opening has been carried out in Ile-de-France, for example, where the occupancy rate of 1,200 intensive care beds by patients with Covid-19 reached 35.3% on Thursday (the critical threshold being set at 30%).
According to the ARS, the emergency services have 100 more beds than before the health crisis, but these are beds borrowed from other services during the first wave and not returned.
10 nurses per 1000 inhabitants
“We feel betrayed.
The government remains deaf to the needs.
For 1000 inhabitants, France has 5.9 intensive care beds, Germany has 8. For 1000 inhabitants, France has 10 nurses, Germany 13… ”, indignant Thierry Amouroux, spokesperson for the National Union nursing professionals (SNPI).
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Questioned on the subject on Sunday, Olivier Véran put forward the fact that we cannot build "intensive care units overnight" and that the hospital is capable "of having modular activities and changing an activity into another ”.
“What we have to do is prevent people from going to intensive care, this is the stake!
», Hammered the minister, alluding to the restrictive measures put in place by the government to fight against the spread of the virus.
Transforming operating theaters and recovery rooms into Covid units would make it possible to unlock up to 12,000 beds "if it was necessary on a given day", he assured.
But that would again mean postponing surgeries.
The direction of the Public Assistance-Hospitals of Paris (AP-HP) announced last week that it was already forced to do so.
Same observation in Marseille.
Vacant jobs
The lack of opening beds is not the only source of exasperation for caregivers.
Because anyway, some beds "remain closed for lack of staff in hospitals, or even in services welcoming patients with Covid", warns the Inter-hospital Collective.
If France has, on paper, around 5,000 sheave beds, according to a document from the National Professional Council for intensive care and resuscitation cited by Le Figaro, 500 to 600 are permanently closed for lack of personnel.
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Before the Covid-19 crisis, at least 500 nursing positions were thus vacant in AP-HP establishments, where in 2019 nearly 30% of hospital doctor positions had not found a taker.
But since then, an epidemic and a revaluation of wages obtained during the Ségur agreements have passed by.
Asked by AFP, the AP-HP did not provide new figures.
“To recruit you must: 1- increase wages 2- better working conditions 3- staff adapted to the workload.
The Health Segur responds in part (to point) 1, very little to 2 and 3, "tweeted Thursday Rémi Salomon, president of the medical commission of the AP-HP.
... and to recruit it is necessary to:
1- revalue salaries
2- better working conditions
3- staff adapted to the workload
Ségur de la santé responds in part to 1, very little to 2 and 3
- Rémi Salomon (@RemiSalomon) September 30, 2020