Many of them have to reduce their activity or even close for a while.
Burn-out, resignations and lack of resources have forced the emergency services to operate in a degraded manner for several months.
But the shortage of staff could prove particularly problematic if, like every summer, the holidays increase the number of patients in the emergency room.
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Nicolas Kazolias has been a nursing assistant for 11 years in the emergency room of the Tenon hospital in Paris.
When he takes a look at the schedule awaiting his service for the summer, he worries: “
We are short of people every day, between holidays, caregivers who are on sick leave and those who will soon be.
I feel my colleagues fragile, mentally it is very complicated.
Those who did not get a vacation but are exhausted will surely stop
.
The caregiver expects to "
have to fiddle
" for two months, in "
even more deplorable conditions than in previous years
".
Accumulate patients
Miles away, the pattern repeats itself.
Sara, a nurse at the Grenoble University Hospital, assures him calmly but firmly: “
summer scares us
”.
“
Last week, 14 emergency physicians resigned simultaneously.
We don't know how to find the necessary staff before July
,” she worries.
In this "
tense climate
", made
of "exhaustion and overwork
", the teams were sparse in all the services, forcing the hospital to close dozens of beds in the care, surgery and geriatrics departments. .
Result: emergencies are forced to “
accumulate patients
”, which accelerates saturation.
Read alsoHow local hospitals facilitate access to care
And anxiety is increasing in hospitals faced with the usual influx of vacationers.
Caregiver in the emergency room of Arles for 12 years, David says he is preparing for a "
chaotic summer
".
Because if the service needs four doctors day and night to function properly, it must now deal with "
two or even one
".
Outside the summer period, “
the situation is already complicated,
he laments
.
We stay open at night but in a 'degraded' way, a nice term to say that we work in poor conditions and that we can let patients wait 24 hours on a stretcher
”.
A quarter of more patients in the summer
July and August are particularly busy months for the region since tourism increases the influx of “
20 or even 30% in emergencies
”, he estimates.
As a result, the service has no guarantee of remaining open during the summer: “
in the best case scenario, we could welcome with few doctors until 11 p.m., then close the service at night by directing people to other hospitals.
says David.
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In Oloron-Sainte-Marie, Noémie Banes is also preparing to refer patients to neighboring hospitals.
Solution that does not really relieve her.
A nurse for 12 years, her hospital has been juggling for several weeks between temporary closure of the emergency department and opening to a reduced workforce.
With the approach of summer, the stoppage of three doctors for burn-out forced the establishment to consider closing at night, with the sole maintenance of the SMUR (mobile emergency and resuscitation structure).
The other patients will be forced to go to Pau or Orthez.
A significant move for this service used to taking care of 50 patients in the summer, against 35 out of season.
"
It's more than an hour's drive away, I let you imagine having to make the journey in the event of an asthma attack or
“Warns Noémie Banes who also fears cascading consequences.
“
Undressing our emergencies will amount to overloading others, while degrading the ancillary services.
The firefighters of Oloron will have to concentrate in Pau, while the needs are not empty at home
”, she laments before concluding sadly: “
It is a disaster and it is endless
”.