Lyon Emergency Rooms Face Severe Overcrowding as Staff Demand Activation of Plan blanc

Lyon's Édouard-Herriot Hospital is grappling with severe overcrowding in its emergency department due to a surge in winter viruses compounded by a strike of private practice doctors. This has caused waiting times for patient registration to skyrocket from five minutes to nearly two hours, sparking serious concern among healthcare workers. Chaïba Janssen, a staff delegate from the FA-FPH union, warned that "for critical cases such as suspected strokes, these delays can be dramatic."

Currently, the emergency services are managing over 250 patient visits daily, setting a new record. The Hospices Civils de Lyon (HCL) reported an average of 477 daily patients between January 1 and 12, a 13% increase compared to the previous year. Despite this pressure, the unions are calling for the formal activation of the Plan blanc emergency protocol, which has already been employed in other cities such as Grenoble and Toulouse to manage similar demand spikes.

However, HCL has opted not to activate the Plan blanc. Instead, they are focusing on internal reorganization by strengthening staffing levels and improving coordination across services to ensure patient flow is maintained. While these measures aim to address the overcrowding, they have not quelled all anxiety among union representatives, who remain concerned about the capacity to provide timely care under the current strain.

This ongoing healthcare crisis highlights the challenges faced by Lyon hospitals amid fluctuating demands and workforce issues, underscoring the urgency of strategies to cope with emergency room saturation. The situation remains fluid as the authorities and hospital management continue to evaluate the need for more formal emergency measures.