Emergency doctors at the Jacques Monod hospital in Le Havre (Seine-Maritime) have been on strike since July 26. They are warning about the saturation of their service, linked in particular to the summer weekend closure of emergency departments at some private hospitals in the region.
Patients waiting for many hours on stretchers in the corridors, emergency rooms and caregivers in tears at their workplace, this is what the unions of the Jacques Monod hospital group in Le Havre described to our team of journalists on Monday, August 5, about their daily life since the beginning of the summer.
The strike notice has been in effect since Monday, July 26. Emergency doctors in Le Havre are warning about the saturation of their service… A situation that is jeopardizing the proper care of patients.
Every weekend in the summer, patients flock to the public hospital in large numbers. Peaks in attendance are undermining the smooth running of the service.The main demands of the strike notice are human and material resources.“, pleads Rachel Gabbay, the hospital’s CGT secretary.
We can clearly see that we are constantly operating under tight flow and that we are already unable to absorb patients in normal times. Based on the figures we can obtain from management, we are calibrated for 35,000 visits per year. And we already have more than 50,000.
Rachel Gabbay, general secretary of the CGT
at France 3 Seine Bay
“It’s only going to get worse with the closure of emergency services in the area.” explains Rachel Gabbay. “We can’t take it anymore, it’s overflowing.”
In the region, several establishments have indeed closed beds. The private hospital of the Estuaire closed its emergency room every weekend at night during the summer. Without warning, it seems, the public hospital player of the territory.
In a press release published on Friday, August 2, the management of the Jacques Monod hospital calls for the immediate reopening of beds and the continuation of activities subject to the continuity of care. It states that “stunned by the lack of responsibility, the late and hidden announcements of certain major players in the Le Havre system.”
The strike is already affecting other departments of the hospital and could continue to spread. In addition, the unions have filed two procedures to report a serious and imminent danger.
