The prosecution has just opened an investigation to determine the causes of the death of a patient in the parking lot of a clinic after waiting in the emergency room of the CHU d’Angers.
Saturday June 15, a 49-year-old man presents to the emergency room of the CHU d’Angers with chest pain. The nurse being alone and already taken by another patient, so “the lady who accompanied the patient decided to leave the emergency room to drive the car” to the Anjou clinic located “about 15-20 minutes by car” , says Christian Lemaire, co-secretary of the South union at the University Hospital of Angers at France 3 Pays de la Loire. Shortly after, “the clinic called the emergency room to say that the patient had died in his vehicle, arrived in the parking lot”.
“The problem is that unfortunately the family left very, very quickly and the patient stayed less than 12 minutes in the emergency room, 12 minutes is less than our usual time frame for treatment, between the moment the patient is administratively admitted, which was the case, and the moment when a nurse comes to take care of him”, explained Professor Sigismond Lasocki, head of the SAMU-Emergency-Resuscitation CHU Angers anesthesia center, this Tuesday, June 18 during ‘a press conference.
A dramatic situation which illustrates “the dysfunction of the Emergencies”
However, for Christian Lemaire, “he could not be taken care of quickly, because there was a lack of staff”. “This dramatic situation illustrates the dysfunction of the Emergencies linked exclusively, in this specific case, to a number of staff present far below the planned workforce in order to guarantee the safety of the care of users”, specifies the Intersyndicale.
At present, “there is no suspicion that there has been a malfunction in the emergency room”, indicated the public prosecutor of Angers who does not plan to switch to an investigation for manslaughter or failure to assist a person in danger.
“We are the subject of an indecent instrumentalization on this affair”, Sébastien Treguenard, deputy director general of the CHU d’Angers, protested, assuring that the hospital is “in contact with the family who are shocked and do not understand the media exploitation”.
A new national demonstration planned
If the media are so interested in this affair, it is because it occurs in the context of an unprecedented crisis in terms of emergencies. The Inter-Urgences collective has just voted for the continuation of the strike movement started in mid-March. Indeed, the organization considers “unsatisfactory” the 70 million euros released by the government to calm the situation.
In addition to a 300 euro salary increase, caregivers are demanding an end to bed closures and an increase in staff. On a daily basis, “it’s saturated stretchers, (the) premises that are no longer adapted to accommodate an increasingly large population, it’s 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. before seeing a specialist, 6-7 a.m. before see a doctor”, denounced Candice Lafarge, representative of the collective and caregiver at the Saint-Antoine hospital in Paris, a few days ago at the microphone of France Inter.
In the hope of pushing the government to give more, Inter-Urgences is now planning an “action” before the regional health agencies (ARS) on June 20 as well as a new “national demonstration” on July 2.
.