POTEMKIN HEALTHCARE:

NHS in crisis? Patients in France also wait on trolleys (Paul Webster, December 7, 2003, The Observer)

France's public hospital system, often cited as a model for Britain, is on the brink of paralysis, according to medical staff, who blame a lack of funding and personnel. [...]

A crisis has been evident since the deaths of 15,000 elderly people during the August heatwave. But this has been followed by a new scare in which Parisian and provincial hospitals have been overwhelmed by three winter epidemics: infant bronchitis, gastroenteritis and 'flu.

While tiny patients were kept waiting in corridors for hours and anxious parents advised to go to private clinics, doctors warned that the worst was yet to come.

Emmanuel Grimpel, head of emergencies at Paris's Armand-Trousseau hospital, said the 'flu epidemic had struck early and underlined a serious lack of medical staff and beds nationwide. He predicted that the crisis would last until mid-January.

Medical staff at his hospital spoke of inadequate equipment and poor morale. They quoted cases at other Paris hospitals where patients had been sent home early because of a lack of beds and nurses, and where waiting lists to see specialists were running into months.

Nurses smiled wryly when told of the high praise of British NHS patients sent to France. 'The wool has been pulled over your eyes,' a senior pediatric nurse said. 'France has one or two show hospitals, like anywhere in the world. Go and see the new Pompidou hospital in Paris - it looks like a Hollywood set. As for the rest... '

Show trials, show hospitals, why not? The Left'll believe anything.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 7, 2003 11:40 AM