The management of the Nord-Franche-Comté hospital (HNFC) requested the health reserve to deal with “exceptional tension” in its emergency services, it announced on Tuesday.
Monday morning, at the end of the weekend, nearly 50 patients were still waiting for a hospital bed in the emergency room, according to the management of the establishment located in Trévenans (Territoire de Belfort).
“
Emergencies are no longer even overloaded, they are submerged
,” denounced the National Nursing Coordination (CNI) in a press release.
According to the CGT, some people “
waiting on stretchers for beds to become available so they can be hospitalized
” waited “
more than thirty hours, sometimes up to sixty hours
”.
“
This constantly renewed, almost daily situation exhausts staff and is likely to seriously compromise the health of waiting patients
,” criticizes the union.
To alleviate this situation, the hospital will receive from Wednesday, and for six days, the reinforcement of three doctors, ten nurses and ten caregivers from the national health reserve, Pascal Mathis, general director, declared to the press. of the hospital.
“
Never in the history of the establishment have we benefited from such comprehensive assistance
,” he stressed.
As of Monday evening, fifteen additional medical beds were activated “
temporarily
” to transfer patients awaiting hospitalization to the emergency room.
Major tension situations
Since the summer of 2022, the HNFC has been experiencing situations of major tension within its emergency and medical departments, particularly linked to an influx of elderly people.
Every day, around a hundred of them present themselves to the emergency room.
Pascal Mathis notes that the difficulties are concentrated on weekends, when city offices are closed, and during school holidays.
According to him, the HNFC needs an increase in its reception capacity, more human resources, as well as work by all stakeholders (Ehpad, home staff, attending physician) around the elderly.
Jean-Baptiste Andreoletti, surgeon and president of the establishment medical commission, believes that the structure born from the merger of the Belfort and Montbéliard hospitals is undersized compared to the needs of the population.