Hotel-Dieu emergencies: the safety of care was no longer guaranteed

“The firefighters promised by Anne Hidalgo, first deputy mayor of Paris, are not back, emergencies are dying, patients are piling up elsewhere”, this is in essence the last tweet of Dr Gérald Kierzek, former head of Smur of the Hôtel-Dieu, dismissed from his post in July 2013 by the direction of the Public Assistance-Hospitals of Paris (AP-HP). At the head of the committee opposed to the closure of the emergency rooms of the oldest hospital in Paris, this emergency physician promised a wind of panic in the capital if this service were to close. But in the emblematic battle of the Hôtel-Dieu, it is often word against word. 72 hours after the closure of the emergency reception service (SAU) of this establishment, the AP-HP responds to the emergency physician’s attacks against the institution.
In an exclusive interview with Why actor, Professor Loïc Capron, president of the Establishment Medical Commission, which represents the 11,000 doctors of the AP-HP, explains the reasons for this closure.

Security conditions were no longer assured
Prof. Loïc Capron: The CME has taken a position since November 2012 for the closure of the emergency reception service (SAU) of the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris, believing that the quality and safety of care could no longer be guaranteed to Parisians. Why ? Because the downstream of emergencies in this hospital is skeletal. There is no more resuscitation, no more surgery, no more heavy technical platforms. The environment is no longer required for the operation of a large hospital that Parisians have the right to demand.


” Paris medical desert? An insult to other regions of France “
Prof. Loïc Capron : I travel around Paris by bike regularly. Getting from Hôtel-Dieu to the other major Parisian hospitals (Cochin, Lariboisière, Saint-Antoine, or Pitié Salpetrière) takes less than ten minutes by bike. To say that there is a medical desert in the center of Paris is an insult to other regions of France. In the capital, we are not at all in a situation of medical desert. There are too many hospitals and beds in Paris. And if we take away from the Hôtel-Dieu the capacity to receive sick people for the night, it is because we have too many beds inside Paris. Where we lack it is outside.

” The panic sale in Parisian emergencies will not take place “
Prof. Loïc Capron: Dr Gérald Kierzek affirmed that with this closure, we would saturate the other Parisian emergency services. I invite him to support his accusations with evidence. To date, it has been 48 hours since the firefighters have no longer brought patients to the Hôtel-Dieu. Did you see any dead on the sidewalks? Finally, we really have to stop doing terrorism. Nothing happened, nothing! I am not saying that this will continue because there will be incidents, there are always incidents in the emergency room. But there, the prediction of Dr. Gérarld Kierzek who predicted a wind of panic in the capital following the closure of the UAA of the Hôtel-Dieu did not take place.

“The project could relieve congestion in other emergency services”
Prof. Loïc Capron: There is an abuse of emergencies by the population, that is clear. Out of 100 people who go there, a maximum of 20 will remain in the hospital. At the Hôtel-Dieu, there were 10 who remained in the hospital when 100 presented themselves. So this establishment already had lighter emergencies than the other AP-HP hospitals. We hope that this new, lighter offer of hospitality for emergencies felt by Parisians will be able to reduce the pressure on other emergencies. It could, in fact, contribute in the medium term to improving the situation of congestion, congestion in Parisian emergencies. I would like to remind you that people who come on foot to the emergency room will be able to continue to go to Hôtel-Dieu. They will be received in conditions of excellent security and oriented. But we know that most will be invited to return home.