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Emanuel Loeb (Psychiatrist)
Following the tragedy which affected the Purpan hospital in Toulouse, the Minister for Health, Frédéric Valletoux, announces a series of measures, on the sidelines of his trip there. For Emanuel Loeb, president of the Young Doctors union, it is a “global overhaul of the hospital that is necessary today”.
After the emotion caused among caregivers by the suicide of a man in the psychiatric emergency room of Purpan hospital in Toulouse on February 14, the Minister for Health Frédéric Valletoux decided to travel to the site on Tuesday afternoon. “The situation that I see here in Toulouse regarding the management of psychiatric emergencies is unacceptable and in every way contrary to the road map that was set for me by the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister” explained the minister after meeting caregivers and local elected officials.
Reopening of 15 beds, mobile team, intensive recruitment…
To improve “without delay” the conditions of care for psychiatric emergencies, the Minister Delegate in charge of Health announced a series of measures, in particular: “the immediate cessation” of all hospitalization in the current place dedicated to psychiatric emergencies , the reopening of 15 beds attached to the psychiatric emergencies of the Purpan University Hospital, the establishment of a mobile team and “intensive recruitment of staff” as quickly as possible.
For Frédéric Valletoux, it is essential that emergencies find their “initial vocation, namely the reception of consultations and the orientation of patients”. The minister placed great emphasis on the need to change “state of mind”, emphasizing the urgency of a “effective and immediate participation of all public and private actors.
The private sector suspected of not “doing its part”…
Targeting the private sector, Frédéric Valletoux declared that “the hospital cannot simply be the recipient of what others do not want to do” and recalled that “firm measures which could go as far as the suspension of certain funding” can be taken.From today, any refusal of hospitalization must be the subject of a reasoned explanation to the ARS” added the ministry.
Finally, the minister announced the arrival “in the coming days” of a general inspection mission of social affairs (Igas), to ensure the implementation of these announcements. She “will monitor the organizational conditions of psychiatry in the urban area and will qualify the nature of responsibilities and dysfunctions in particular in the light of the latest adverse events“.
“Incomprehension” of the Private Hospital Federation
In a communicatedLamine Gharbi, president of the Private Hospital Federation, reacted strongly to these comments: “I would like to reiterate that private hospitalization takes its full part, without any selection of patients. Beyond that, let us ensure that the dramatic events in Toulouse make it possible to rebuild our health system on the basis of equal recognition of its actors, with equal rights and duties, within a framework of complementarity. It is up to the State to be the guarantor of this in the territories. Only cooperation between the public and the private sector will make it possible to maintain an efficient health system in which each sector, public and private, must have its full place and assume its responsibilities in a collective and united manner.
Dr Emanuel Loeb: “Neither the private sector nor the public sector are responsible for these tragedies”
Questioned, Dr. Emanuel Loeb, president of the Young Doctors union, believes that the Minister of Health is fighting the wrong battle. “There is no point in fueling quarrels between each other. Neither the private nor the public sector is responsible for these tragedies.” he denounces first of all.
“All health professionals, given the demographic state of medicine today in France, are doing their best to meet demand and welcome patients“. The doctor also recalls that psychiatry is a specialty which presents particularities such as hospitalization under duress, which “few private clinics” practice.
For Emanuel Loeb, it is necessary to begin a “real reform of the public hospital” and to revalorize the attractiveness of the installation for general practitioners, with “a consultation between 35 and 50 euros, so that this can relieve congestion the emergencies”. “Rather than pitting the public and private sectors against each other, the minister should coordinate them to ensure the best possible care provision for the French.”.