Martin Hirsch, the boss of the AP-HP, has pledged to halve the time taken to take care of patients in the emergency room. From 4 hours today for an adult, he hopes to bring it back to 2 hours within five years.
Since 2004, the emergency structures of the Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) have been absorbing more and more patients (+ 2.1% per year). As a result, they welcomed 1.1 million patients last year. And very often, they wait a very long time on the emergency benches: 4 hours on average for adults before being seen by a doctor, and 2h35 for a child. Faced with this failure, the boss of the AP-HP, Martin Hirsch held a press conference on Tuesday to present his global emergency improvement strategy. From the outset, he indicated that it was not a question of considering that there is an “abuse” of recourse to the emergency services but a service to be rendered in the best possible conditions. With a goal to achieve, halve the waiting time within five years.
Generalize short circuits
To reduce waiting times, the AP-HP intends, for example, to generalize short circuits dedicated to patients whose condition does not require hospitalization, or complicated biological or radiological examinations, which is the case for 20% in adults, and 40 to 50% in children. This will make it possible to quickly sort out these patients and assess them. The expected goal is that patients who wait more than 4 hours will be less than 5% for adults, and less than 3% for children.
But for all those who will continue to wait in hospitals, Martin Hirsch also wants to improve the waiting time in the emergency room. How? ‘Or’ What ? By ensuring that waiting patients are no longer left alone. They can now be accompanied either by a loved one, or by a trusted person or by voluntary volunteers who will be integrated in support of professional teams and who will be able to enlighten them on their care.
Regarding the latter, the boss of the AP-HP thinks that associations such as the “Transmitters”, made up of retired doctors, and volunteers in Civic Service, will be able to fulfill this mission in particular.
Bobology: refer these patients to general practitioners open in the evening
In addition, the AP-HP also wants to better regulate patients upstream, for example by directing some of them (minor injuries) who call 15 to general practitioners working in a practice open in the evening. Another solution is to improve the downstream side of hospital services by better managing medical equipment and therefore making beds immediately available to people in need of hospitalization. By developing a “bed management” method, staff will spend less time looking for beds and more time caring, the AP-HP press release says.
Finally, let us note that the director of the Parisian institution indicated that he was going to put this plan in motion without paying an additional euro and without increasing staff. He explains that we can be more efficient by using differently what already exists even though he recognizes that it will not be easy.
For their part, the AP-HP unions have greeted the plan of their new CEO with skepticism. They believe that what the director of AP-HP is proposing is impossible. For the CGT, for example, this reform can only be implemented if there are more caregivers.
.
