Visiting healthcare personnel, the Minister of Health, François Braun, did not hide his fears, Thursday, December 22, concerning the French health system facing a triple winter epidemic of Covid-19, bronchiolitis and influenza. .
“Our health system is particularly under strain at the moment, with SAMUs having a 30% to 40% increase in the number of calls”noted the minister in front of journalists.
François Braun paid a night visit to the Paris SAMU, based at the Necker hospital (AP-HP), before going to the Delafontaine hospital in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis), in order to “to provide government support to all the teams mobilized”. Noting that “the emergency services are also saturated, with hospitalization difficulties”the minister pointed a « situation (…) critical at the level of the health system”.
“Everyone is mobilizing in a kind of sacred union which is remarkable”he greeted, predicting a situation “even more complicated next week”. “We have an extremely difficult course to overcome”he noted.
“Reform” the health system
Pointed to a slowdown at the national level but not in all regions, the wave of Covid-19 is contributing to a context of “triple epidemic” which is testing the health system. It is in addition to the flu, which extends throughout the metropolis, and to bronchiolitis, which has reached record levels for more than ten years in infants despite a recent lull.
A collective of more than 5,000 doctors, caregivers and hospital workers called on the executive on Wednesday to act to” emergency “ opposite a public hospital “Cracking and soon to crumble”unable according to them “to cushion the slightest health crisis”.
François Braun promised on Thursday evening that he would begin “from the month of January the global reform of our health system, territory by territory”following the work of the National Refoundation Council. “I thank all the professionals and I tell them that we are mobilized, and that we are going to take the health system head on to reform it”he assured.