“I stayed 24 hours on the same stretcher, without eating anything”
.
These chilling words were written by Madeleine Riffaud, 98, following her visit to the emergency room at Lariboisière hospital (Paris).
In a column published Monday, September 19 on the site of the common review and addressed to the Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), she denounces the conditions of her care in this Parisian health establishment, on Sunday 4 september.
A situation that she presents as that
of “millions of Parisians and French people”
.
She explains that she went to the emergency room that day
“for an important examination due to a long covid”
.
In her letter, Madeleine Riffaud writes that she
“found herself lying in the middle of patients who were screaming in pain, rage, abandonment, whatever.
And the nurses were running in there, overwhelmed.
This former resistance fighter, who says she is blind, says she crossed what she thinks is a courtyard:
“It was colder, that's all I can say.
And then they left me there, without any business, without any means of communication with my relatives
.
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However, the one who was also a war correspondent, does not overwhelm the nursing staff.
"The nurses and caregivers, I know them well, I lived among them, I know that they would have desperately wanted to be able to take care of everyone
," she underlines.
"
My misadventure is a daily story in the hospital in France
,
"
she insists.
For the AP-HP, "
drugs adapted to his situation were dispensed to him"
In a press release published on Tuesday, September 20, the AP-HP gave its version of the facts, retracing the course of Madeleine Riffaud
.
“The patient presented herself alone by ambulance to the emergency room of Lariboisière hospital on September 4, 2022 at 12:10 p.m.
She was greeted by the reception and orientation nurse, registered in the care circuit of the service then examined by the senior doctor at 12.25 p.m., who prescribed a certain number of examinations.
Biological samples were taken at 12:43 p.m. and a scanner was performed at 5:25 p.m.
In the evening, the patient was transferred to the short-term hospitalization sector of the emergency room.
On September 5 in the morning, after the doctor's clinical examination,
“
,
Explains the AP-HP.
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The public establishment adds that
“technical gestures, care and monitoring were thus provided to the patient on a regular basis throughout her care.
Medicines adapted to his situation were dispensed to him
.
The AP-HP concludes by ensuring that it strives “
to quickly and completely clarify the conditions under which [Madeleine Riffaud] was informed and accompanied throughout her presence at Lariboisière hospital”
.
