Les Urgences Debordees

[idun]

In Roubaix the chef de service at the emergency department has resigned as they cannot cope with all the patients. A new patient every six minutes and not enough staff to deal with them, hours and hours for most to wait.

The rest of the staff have said that they are going to resign if there isn't something doing about Roubaix, I can but wish them good luck.

 I was used to our local hospital being debordee and would listen to or read, stories about

waltzing into an A&E in France and being seen immediately, in the 'other' France and

out in no time at all. I'd find it incredible, and what would the staff

have actually been doing in these Urgences when no one came, all those staff members doing

little or maybe nothing.

[Chancer]

Lets not forget that for many debordé(e) means that at times having no choice but to do the job that they are paid to do 35 hours per week.

Remember the book "Completement debordé" ?

I wonder if he really resigned or is just sitting at home on sick leave?

[NormanH]

It is frequent to have to wait a few hours at the Hospital Urgences, but that is because of the number of people who  go there instead of  seeing the Generaliste, possibly because they don't want to advance 23€.

On the other hand if you seem to have a genuine emergency I have found I have been seen pretty quickly, even in Marseille in a crowded waiting room on a public Holiday..

We now have two Cliniques in addition to the Hospital who run Urgences and a Maison Médicalisée at weekends when Doctors won't come out.

The worst bit is finding a Pharmacie open if they give you a prescription out of hours.  After so many attacks by drug addicts the only way of knowing who is the Pharmacie de Garde is to take the ordonnance that the Urgences have given to the Commisariat and show it to them before they will give you the address.  They will not do it over the phone.

This is fine if you have a car to traipse all over town, but not much fun on foot when you might have to walk several kilometres feeling rotten.

[idun]

Well the chef de service said that she had been working 70 hours a week for years.

If it was like our nearest A&E, then I can believe that they are debordee. And I am told that our nearest A&E is still the same, in fact many wards have been understaffed for years, I know enough people who work there as well as people who end up as patients.

[NormanH]

Oh I have no doubt that the staff are overwhelmed. The problem is the patients who have no business going to Emergency, but go because they don't want to make an appointment with their Doctor (which is usually no later than the next day) or don't want to advance the 23€.

There is also the way that they 'consult' for the slightest little thing.

My neighbour spent all afternoon till late evening yesterday in Urgences because she had a tummy bug.

I treated myself, and as you know I have more cause to worry about intestinal symptoms than some...

[Chiefluvvie]

Evening all - just back in from a lovely seafood meal (28C and lovely breeze) in Flic-en-Flac and thought I'd contribute.

Good ex-UK Doctor friend (!?) of mine took a job in my old local Urgences near Aix-en-Provence working 24 hour shifts, 3 on 4 off - fully 're-qualified' into the French system, fluent French speaker and with all the necessary 'tampons' from Paris to practice in France - he lasted 5 months!

NOT because of the patients or workload - but because he couldn't cope / tolerate with the attitude and constant moaning of his French colleagues. Quoi de neuf.....?

Bonne soirée

Chiefluvvie