Hervé Caël, a doctor by profession, brings up a topic that the health crisis has somewhat sidelined.
Indeed, not all illnesses are related to coronavirus!
The virus hits us directly and also has indirectly severe consequences. In technical terms, we call this collateral damage.
The issue of foregoing medical care is currently one of the major concerns of both hospital and private practice physicians. If at the start of the Covid-19 epidemic the French were encouraged to consult only in emergencies, this period needs to end.
Medical statistical data reveals the seriousness of this issue:
- Drop in attendance at city medical offices by 40 to 70% depending on the specialties.
- Very significant decrease in “non-Covid” activity in hospital emergency departments.
The lockdown resulted in a logical decrease in traumatic pathologies (work, sports, recreational accidents…), but no obvious explanation emerges regarding the drop in diagnoses of cardiovascular, neurological, digestive diseases…
For fear of being contaminated by the coronavirus, many patients remain at home and postpone check-ups and follow-ups. The emergence of new symptoms is neglected and does not lead to the necessary medical consultation.
The impact of these attitudes over a few days remains negligible. Over several weeks, or several months, this neglect of medical care may lead to extremely detrimental medical situations: Decompensation of chronic diseases, delayed diagnoses and treatments…
In light of the uncertainty of the future course of the Covid-19 epidemic, caution must remain the order of the day. But today, particularly in our region, the medical capacities in cities and health facilities make it possible to handle all potential scenarios. While professionals are organizing to allow essential access to healthcare under optimal safety conditions, we are facing a new obstacle, the shortage of anesthesia products.
This issue is becoming so critical that the authorities have just decided on a new supply method for these medications for hospitals and clinics: Prohibition of direct orders from pharmaceutical laboratories and centralized management by the ARS (Regional Health Agency). This organized rationing will automatically lead to significant restrictions in the necessary resumption of operating room activities.
In times of crisis, trust in authorities is a key element in adhering to decisions and directives often perceived as sanctions or infringements on individual freedoms. But there can be no trust without transparency.
The lamentable episode with masks is significant in this regard. The attempt to hide a real shortage of protection means (for health professionals as well as essential contributors to community life and the entire population) led to a genuine cacophony at the highest levels of state with a multitude of multiple and contradictory statements. By continually treading on the discernment of citizens, ministers have tripped over themselves.
We expect a language of truth from political and health authorities: the global tension on anesthesia products is forcing France to indefinitely postpone medically necessary surgical interventions. Yet today, care teams and facilities are in a position to ensure them in secured non-Covid-19 circuits, while preserving capacity in case of a worsening of the Coronavirus epidemic.
Doctors will once again take all their responsibilities in this exceptional situation. But they refuse to be held accountable for decisions that are not their responsibility. We are not making a judgment here on a situation we have been denouncing for years; the time for evaluation will come.
Dr. Hervé CAEL
Secretary-General of the Regional Council of the Order of Doctors (South PACA)
