Pediatrics crisis: 10,000 carers denounce the president’s indifference

The current bronchiolitis epidemic does not concern the President of the Republic. A month ago, 4,000 health workers alerted him to the state of pediatric services, unable to cope with a particularly virulent epidemic. Healthcare workers have therefore called for immediate measures to improve their working conditions and curb staff shortages and bed closures. If Emmanuel Macron did not deem it useful to express himself on the matter, the reception conditions for the sick have further deteriorated, as a new open letter published this morning on The world.

Despite the warnings, the pediatric situation is getting worse

With the hospital situation worsening, 10,000 health workers are today outraged by the silence of the President of the Republic. In this new forum, it warns again about the catastrophic state of pediatric services, asphyxiated by the national epidemic of bronchiolitis.

Caregivers deplore makeshift hospitalizations in corridors or on stretchers, when they can no longer transfer their patients due to lack of space elsewhere. Now they have to rely on the help of their colleagues who are not trained in pediatric specificities to perform treatments and intubations, sometimes on very young children. “Non-urgent” surgeries are constantly being postponed, which threatens the mental and physical health of patients.

Think long-term to solve the hospital crisis

The government has taken emergency measures to deal with the crisis. The Ministry of Health has released 400 million euros and extended the bonus for intensive care exercises to all caregivers. It also extended this summer’s emergency plan, allowing regional health agencies to manage their own budgets. But these are only short-term actions that in no way solve the chronic dysfunctions of pediatric services. To look to the future with serenity, hospital staff require:

• Improving working conditions and the remuneration of caregivers;
• Recognition of pediatrics as a specialty in its own right;
• The increase in the number of young people trained, particularly in pediatric specificities;
• The involvement of “field” hospital actors in the government decision-making process.

Hoping that this time they are heard.