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Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)
In Châteauroux, the mayor alerted the Regional Health Agency to the catastrophic state of health of the city’s hospital center. He even advises the Castelroussins to seek treatment elsewhere. What should we think ? Doctissimo contacted Gérald Kierzek, its medical director, to find out more.
Staggering waiting times, lack of staff and resources, patients left abandoned on stretchers… Nothing is going well at the Châteauroux hospital center. Faced with this situation, non-medical emergency personnel wrote a letter to the Indre prefecture. The prefect travels and observes the situation, before warning the mayor, Gil Avérous, also president of the hospital supervisory board.
A letter advising citizens not to go to the hospital
In response, the mayor decided to notify the Regional Health Agency (ARS) Center Val-de-Loire. In the letter he sent to him, he reported his concerns and the mishaps of hospital users. Numerous testimonies denounce endless waiting times, sloppy or even non-existent care… Which could have led to the deaths of certain patients, as Alice Prudhomme denounces to our colleagues at France Bleu. His father died on December 28, 2022, in hospital, after two days spent on a stretcher. “He spent 26 hours without any care.” relates the young woman.
In his letter, the mayor does not mince his words and invites Castelroussins to seek treatment elsewhere. “The State is aware of the medical difficulties at the national level. Perhaps it was not aware of the particularly strong impact on the Châteauroux hospital, and its emergency rooms open 24 hours a day” indicates the mayor to France Bleu. “We must not get used to considering a situation that is abnormal as normal.”.
“This is not the right message”, according to Gérald Kierzek
ARS agents have since gone to the hospital and things will perhaps change more quickly, due to the media coverage of the situation.
However, did the mayor do the right thing in advising users not to go to the hospital? According to Dr. Gérald Kierzek, even if the mayor was right, this risks making the situation worse. “The mayor denounces in this way the dilapidation of the public hospital. However, if fewer people go to the hospital, activity will decrease, as will the resources allocated to the hospital and this will worsen the problem. warns the medical director of Doctissimo.
“He called on the ARS to ask for more resources and that is a good thing, however patients cannot do self-diagnosis, because they are not doctors.” he adds. “Telling them not to go to the emergency room is not the right message” therefore believes the doctor. “On the other hand, local hospitals need more resources to care for the population. These establishments are essential links for our health system, that is certain” he concludes.