“Now is the time for fast, ambitious, strong and lasting action. This is what the president of the French Hospital Federation (FHF) explained on Tuesday at the opening of his annual show. While since Monday, Bordeaux emergencies have been closing at night for adults - unless there is an urgent need sent by the Samu -, Frédéric Valletoux has painted an alarming picture of the situation. “The absenteeism rate is higher than before the (Covid) crisis, the difficulties in recruiting are strong (…) and there are major tensions on medical specialties subject to on-call and on-call duty,” he said. .

Last October, the president of the scientific council Jean-François Delfraissy, estimated at 20% the number of beds closed for lack of staff, out of a park of 387,000. "Beds are closed in more than three quarters of establishments, including medico-social, many blocks are idling and there are closures of emergency services in all regions, "added the president of the FHF, who is also mayor of Fontainebleau and candidate Horizons, the banner of Édouard Philippe , to the legislative elections in Seine-et-Marne.

"We can't wait any longer"

Faced with this situation, "the prospect of the summer vacation is worrying" and "immediate and strong measures are needed", hammered Valletoux to respond to these increasingly structural shortcomings, and less and less linked to Covid contamination. teams. "Given the situation, an obligation for all practitioners to participate should be decided urgently", he claimed, a way of forcing city doctors to show solidarity. "No one should be able to opt out of it except for exemptions due to their state of health or age," he insisted.

As for caregivers already in post at the public hospital, they need "immediate measures to increase the remuneration of medical on-call and on-call duty", as well as "the revaluation of night and weekend allowances" for caregivers. “I know that these measures are very strong, exceptional, but I ask that the urgency of the situation be fully considered. We can't wait any longer,” he concluded.