In 2021, over 4,300 hospital beds were closed

Hospitals in France are not in good health, as confirmed by a study by the Ministry of Health.

The DREES (Department of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics) confirms in its study that the more than 4,316 hospital beds were closed last year. The causes of these numerous closures are the Covid-19 epidemic and the obvious lack of health personnel.

Known causes of the closure of the beds

Compared to 2020, this figure is lower but remains stronger than before the health crisis in March of the same year. Between the end of 2016 and the end of 2021 in France 21,000 beds will have been cut in Emmanuel Macron’s five-year period, a figure higher than President François Hollande but less important than Nicolas Sarkozy’s five-year period.

Emmanuel Macron does worse than François Hollande

During this spring of 2022, three-quarters of healthcare facilities had their beds closed due to a lack of available staff (most often due to exhausted healthcare workers). Many blocks were inactive.

While 4,300 hospital beds were closed, 2,700 places for partial hospitalization were opened at the same time. At the end of December 2021, the 2,984 French public and private hospitals had exactly 382,587 full beds, or 4,316 fewer in a year.

In March of this year, Olivier Véran, then Minister of Health, announced the opening of 1,000 additional intensive care beds starting in 2023, adding that he wanted to “strengthen the intensive care sector in France and arm it to better cope the health crises of tomorrow.

To attract caregivers, the hospital needs to be more attractive

A few days ago, ARS Île-de-France and Pôle emploi Île-de-France signed an agreement to increase hiring in the health and medical-social sectors. To attract caregivers, the hospital needs to be more attractive in terms of salary (these have recently increased) and quality of work (less stress, less temporary work and more time to take care of patients – caregivers request -).

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