At the beginning of January, the General Controllers of places of deprivation of liberty visited without warning the psychiatric emergencies of the CHU of Saint-Etienne, the aim being to examine the conditions of hospitalization in psychiatry. An impromptu visit which revealed major dysfunctions and “unworthy reception conditions” which have just been the subject of a report by the Comptroller General, Adeline Hazan.
A wait in the emergency room ranging from 15 hours to 7 days
According to this report, submitted to the Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn, “the controllers noted the presence, in the general emergencies of the CHU, of 20 patients coming from psychiatry waiting for places. Thirteen of these patients were waiting, lying on stretchers in the corridors of the emergency rooms. Seven patients were restrained on the feet and on one or both hands. These seven people had been in the emergency room for periods ranging from fifteen hours to seven days. They had not been able to wash, change, or have access to their cell phones. Three of them had to use a urinal placed along their leg on the stretcher, above the sheet “.
The report also points to the abusive use of solitary confinement and restraint: “During the control, all the seclusion rooms were occupied. Lock-in is also frequent in ordinary rooms, including with restraint and without computer traceability” while the recent recommendations of the Haute Autorité de Santé emphasize that it should only be used to deal with a significant and imminent danger for the patient or others.
Adeline Hazan recognizes that the CHU has taken these findings into account. Its director also indicated to have carried out internally “an administrative investigation and audits”.
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