Wait three, four, even seven hours in an emergency department before being taken care of, Ile-de-France people know well. However, they continue, more than elsewhere, to go to these services so saturated that they will soon be asked to select their patients.
According to the latest figures from the Regional Health Agency, in 2018 the number of visits to hospital emergency departments in Ile-de-France exploded again, reaching 4,530,000. This is 15.2% more in four years! The capital region alone, which represents 18% of the population, accounts for 21.2% of national emergency room attendance. But why such a remedy?
Our health barometer in Ile-de-France, implemented by Le Parisien – Today in France and Cosem, which has six health centers in Paris, two of which accommodate emergencies, confirms the strong use of hospitals : 44% of Ile-de-France residents declare having visited an emergency department "at least once" in the past twelve months. Why? Seven out of ten respondents say that the hospital remains, despite its difficulties, "the most reassuring place in the event of an urgent medical problem". And more than one in three Ile-de-France residents say they are "certain to find everything they need to carry out possible additional examinations".
45% of "non-legitimate reason"
But our barometer reveals more startling figures. More than a third of those who attended the emergency department cited the fact that "they did not know who to contact outside the emergency room"! And 11% explain that "the emergencies are closer to home than the doctor who could take care of them". Or 45% of "non-legitimate reason", often linked to a lack of information. Only 27% indicate that they did not obtain a quick appointment with another health professional.
As for medical reasons, Ipsos presented patients with several banal situations to gauge their ability to orient themselves in the system. Thus, it is obvious to two-thirds of the panel that it is necessary to go to the hospital in the event of a “cut requiring stitches”, which however a city doctor can do.
On the other hand, for stomach aches, 92% of the panel will not seek hospital care. However, stomach aches can reveal a serious problem. "Ile-de-France residents do not always know how to distinguish the pathologies that legitimately come under emergency care," sums up Chloé Morin, who piloted the survey at Ipsos. There is clearly a need to raise awareness and provide information on the proper use of emergencies ”.
A future national healthcare access service
This overcrowding of emergency services in Ile-de-France proves that a reform of our emergency access system is also necessary. A first filtering of entries will be set up, on an experimental basis, next April, with the "reorientation package", a financial incentive granted to hospitals for each non-urgent case referred to city medicine.
Filtering which will be reinforced with the future “SAS”, a national healthcare access service with a single call number (probably 113), which is to be deployed gradually from next June.
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* Cosem: the Coordination of social and medical works is an association created in 1945 which has 6 health centers in Paris (5th, 8th, 9th, 9th and 19th arrondissements) at opposable prices. It employs 700 health professionals and sees two million patients a year.
Methodology
The Cosem – Le Parisien-Today survey in France was conducted by the Ipsos institute between October 25 and November 8, 2019 on the basis of a sample of 1,102 people aged 18 and over, living in Ile-de -France and representative of the population (according to the quota method), interviewed via the Internet.
