He finally recognizes it.
This Wednesday morning, the Minister of Health, François Braun, announced that several emergency services were currently closed in France.
"In terms of closures, that is to say an emergency service that would no longer welcome anyone, there were four before July, there are eight today," he said. he stated on RTL.
And there are, moreover, “emergency services which limit their entry at night”.
The measures of the flash mission - which had been entrusted to him to solve this problem before he entered the government - "were not going to solve all the problems: they were measures to spend the summer as less badly as possible commented the Minister.
#Emergencies: "Vital emergencies are maintained everywhere"@FrcsBraun, Minister of Health and Prevention, guest of @JeromeFlorin in #RTLMatin pic.twitter.com/EZ8owH35dg
– RTL France (@RTLFrance) August 10, 2022
These remarks mark a change of speech by the minister, who has so far refuted any closure of emergencies, evoking only regulated access for patients to some of these services, despite testimonies to this effect from health professionals.
Disagreements over numbers
In a survey published in early August, the Samu-Urgences France association, which François Braun himself chaired just before joining the government, reported that multiple emergency services had closed for several days in July.
This survey is part of a context of concern among caregivers about the ability of hospitals to get through the summer, against a backdrop of a lack of beds and staff.
Read alsoEmergencies: “The worst is to be feared for this summer”, warns the president of the Hospital Federation
If the minister finally acknowledged the existence of closures, he nevertheless put their consequences into perspective.
Among the eight closed establishments, a figure also much lower than those reported by professionals, “there are four clinics with public emergency services nearby”, assured François Braun.
“You have to be right”.
The Minister also reiterated that all plots of French territory continued to have “vital emergencies” services, if necessary via mobile Samu teams.
“These teams must remain available,” he insisted.