28 Ile-de-France children with bronchiolitis had to be transferred to intensive care units in other regions, due to lack of space and staff, according to the Ile-de-France Regional Health Agency.
“Each winter, pediatric facilities in the region face stress due to winter epidemics, particularly with bronchiolitis. This year, this period coincides with a difficult context generated by tensions on human resources in health”, explains the agency, which underlines that the number of beds is lower than it was in 2021. “Currently, 27, 5% of visits to the emergency room for bronchiolitis in children under 2 years old are followed by hospitalization, ”according to the ARS.
Open letter
This epidemic of bronchiolitis, early this year like last year, is combined with difficulties in recruiting caregivers, in particular nurses, in the pediatric departments. On October 22, a group of 7,000 pediatric caregivers sent an open letter to Emmanuel Macron to deplore unsuitable working conditions and care, the results of “irresponsible political inaction”.
In response to this cry of alarm, the Minister of Health, François Braun, announced the establishment of an “immediate action plan” and the release of 150 million euros for “services under the hospital”, and promised the organization in the spring of “assizes of pediatrics”.
Bronchiolitis Regional Support Unit
“Inadequate” and “cynical” measures according to the Pediatrics collective, which announced that it would go to the Elysée on November 2 to deliver a letter to the Head of State.
The ARS explained to AFP that it had drawn up “an action plan to prepare the winter system and support the hospital teams”, in particular by opening the Regional Bronchiolitis Support Cell (CRAB) to seek places for patients. .