Following the new suicide of a caregiver at the Georges-Pompidou European hospital, the staff and the Minister of Health are asking for transparency on the investigation.
The Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) announced on Monday the suicide of one of its caregivers by defenestration. After that of Prof. Jean-Louis Mégnien, cardiologist, in December 2015, this time it is a nurse. This health professional took action on the night of Sunday to Monday February 6, around 3:10 am, throwing himself through the window of the eighth floor (internal medicine department) of a building of the Pompidou hospital (HEGP) located in the 15th (Paris).
For the moment, we only know that this nurse usually worked on a night shift, but that he was not on duty that night. His companion, whom he called just before jumping, was received during the night. She is the mother of two young children. An extraordinary health, safety and working conditions committee of the Georges Pompidou European Hospital is currently being held in the presence of the Director General of the AP-HP Martin Hirsch.
The national mediator seized
In a press release, the public assistance informs, moreover, that an investigation is carried out by the direction of the HEGP and the cell of analysis of suicides is seized, in connection with the representatives of the CHSCT.
Finally, a listening and support unit has just been set up to support, in these tragic circumstances, the agents who feel the need. Some like Prof. Philippe Halimi, president of the association Jean Louis Mégnien, are indeed in shock. Contacted by Why actor, the head of the radiology department at the HEGP confides: “unlike the harassment suffered by Jean-Louis, we have here for the moment no element evoking any similar situation for this professional”.
In the establishment, voices evoke personal problems. But for Professor Halimi, “even if it is a personal matter, it troubles us that he came to the hospital, that he put on his gown and that he took action in his hospital. . We therefore hope that no hypothesis is ruled out and we are waiting for further details as soon as possible ”.
For this, this specialist immediately seized Edouard Couty, who was appointed national mediator last month, as part of an action plan to prevent the discomfort of caregivers and conflict situations in the hospital.
Exasperated caregivers
The association hopes that this speaker will allow the greatest transparency in the current investigation, of which Marisol Touraine has just requested that the first results be returned as soon as possible. The Minister of Health also wants “all light to be shed on the circumstances of this death”. In the meantime, Professor Halimi recognizes all the same that this new incident rekindles injuries: “We have the impression of not seeing the end of the tunnel. I hope that this new suicide has no professional reason, ”he concludes.
Seized the day after Professor Mégnien’s suicide at the Pompidou hospital, the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (IGAS) submitted its report last September. It pointed to major institutional dysfunctions and made some thirty recommendations aimed at preventing such an event from happening again.
Hospital: 200 reports of mistreatment
In six months, the Jean-Louis-Mégnien association received dozen of vibrant testimonials from health professionals describing situations of harassment at work. In all, 200 doctors, nurses and caregivers working in 70 public hospitals told the association that they were harassed by their superiors. The association, formed the day after the suicide of Professor Mégnien, cardiologist at the George Pompidou hospital (Paris), has compiled these testimonies which constitute the first map of France of the mistreatment of hospital staff, published in The Parisian.
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