It was one of the most sensitive provisions of the bill. While the government wanted to impose the health pass at the entrance to hospitals, the Constitutional Council validated this provision on Thursday. The rule of principle therefore remains the following: the health pass must be presented by visitors and those accompanying sick people, but also by patients arriving at the hospital.
However, the Constitutional Council leaves some freedom to caregivers, allowing them to define the degree of urgency and what type of visitor they allow to enter without a health pass. “The goal is not to rot people’s lives, but to protect the most vulnerable”, comments Jean-Louis Teboul, head of the intensive medicine department at Bicêtre hospital in Paris. Guest from Europe 1, Friday, he specified how this provision would be applied.
“The goal is to protect, not to coerce”
“The general principle of the hospital health pass is to prevent, or at least to limit as much as possible, the circulation of the virus in the establishment and therefore to protect the people there, who are mainly patients and therefore vulnerable people, “recalls Jean-Louis Teboul. “The goal is therefore to protect, not to coerce”.
Many cases of nosocomial Covid have been detected during the different waves, explains the doctor. Cases generated by caregivers, but also “many cases which we know were generated by visitors who did not always respect barrier gestures,” he said. The purpose of presenting the health pass is to limit this risk, and to eliminate the circulation of the virus in hospitals.
“Do not obstruct access to care”
To summarize, “there are two scenarios”, specifies Jean-Louis Teboul. First of all, families and visitors, who will have to present a health pass. “The goal is not to rot people’s lives, put to protect the most vulnerable,” insists the doctor, conceding that the implementation of such a device may take time to become as practical and rapid as possible. “There are currently meetings in hospitals to see how to implement these measures in the most appropriate way.”
The second scenario concerns the patient health pass. Apart from patients coming to the emergency room, the health pass will be requested, for example, for a patient who has a consultation or a scheduled hospitalization. However, adds Jean-Louis Teboul, “the Constitutional Council has issued a condition which is just as important and which is not to obstruct access to care, and of course, as a caregiver, one can only be a thousand times agree with this reservation “.
Ultimately, “the final appreciation will be left to caregivers and doctors”, concludes the doctor. “It is clear that on my part, and on the part of many colleagues, there will be no refusal of care, whatever the reason. So, in the end, in my opinion, the patients who will require get to the hospital will be able to. “
As an entertainment author with over 7 years of experience, I bring a diverse background to my writing. I have a proven track record in the journalism industry. My expertise extends beyond writing, as I have experience producing video content for websites and social media platforms, offering a well-rounded perspective on the entertainment world
