Two women, aged 88 and 93, died in the A&E waiting room at Tours University Hospital within a fortnight of each other because they were not treated early enough, we have learnt from our colleagues at AFP, citing hospital sources.
According to Oscar, a nurse on the night shift in A&E, "These people were seen by the reception nurses. They could not be taken to a cubicle to undergo a medical examination and receive the necessary care in good time". "They died in a waiting room, after triage, on stretchers amongst other people who were waiting to be treated", said the nurse interviewed by theAFP, lambasting "a bottleneck at the entrance to A&E which results in an unacceptable waiting time".
The lack of resources highlighted
According to the same source, Professor Gilles Calais, chair of the hospital’s Medical Committee and a member of the management team at Tours University Hospital, lamented that "these patients, who were in a state of significant, serious medical distress, died within 4 to 8 hours of their admission".
Whilst medical staff have been criticising the lack of resources in hospitals and care homes, the National Ethics Committee, in an opinion published on Wednesday, deplored the “ghettoisation” and neglect of many very elderly people within society.