Several municipalities in Nièvre have issued symbolic decrees “forbidding” their inhabitants from falling ill, in order to denounce the situation “catastrophic” emergencies in this department renowned for being one of the worst medical deserts in France.
“It is strictly forbidden for any resident to fall ill, otherwise they will not receive any medical care due to the repeated closure of emergency services”: the decree taken by the municipality of Decize does not lack humor.
However, the subject is “very serious”explains to AFP on Monday, Justine Guyot, the PS mayor of this town of around 5,600 inhabitants.
The emergency room at the Gros Bourg hospital “have been placed in degraded mode or even completely closed 24 times since March”she points out, including once when the emergency rooms at Nevers hospital, 40 minutes away by car, were also closed.
“There was then no emergency service in all of Nièvre”which has around 200,000 inhabitants, explains the mayor.
“So I wanted to challenge” by taking this order “ironic” on October 8, and sending it to all the municipalities of Nièvre.
From, “about twenty” mayors copied it, like that of Montigny-aux-Amognes.
“Nièvre is a disaster”summarizes for AFP Christian Perceau, mayor of this village of less than 600 inhabitants.
“We have huge problems with emergencies in Nevers. It is managed by the 15 in Dijon »the regional capital about 2.5 hours away, “but there are mistakes…”underlines the mayor, referring to the case of his aunt who was referred, due to a stomach ache, to a doctor in a surrounding town.
“When she got there, she found the door closed: the GP had moved…”
Nièvre has only 68 doctors per 100,000 inhabitants compared to an average of 121 in France. There is no dermatologist, only one rheumatologist, one allergist… and 20% of patients do not have a GP.
The situation is such that a “airlift” was set up in January 2023 in order to bring a maximum of eight doctors to the Nevers hospital from Dijon, at least once a week.
In March, a collective of emergency doctors in Nevers warned that patient safety was not “more assured”emergencies operating with six practitioners, while 27 would be necessary.
