Paris hospitals transferring children to lessen strain of bronchiolitis, staff shortages

A nurse protesting at the Robert Debre children's hospital in Paris in June 2020, when medical staff were already raising the alarm about the degradation of work conditions. Today, paediatric emergency services have reduced capacities to treat seasonal epidemics, like bronchiolitis, as they struggle to recruit nurses. © Francois Mori/AP

Hospitals in and around Paris have started transferring children to paediatric intensive care units in other hospitals to alleviate overcrowding due to an epidemic of bronchiolitis that is putting strain on already short-staffed paediatric services. The health minister said he will meet with healthcare workers on Wednesday to address what has been called a crisis in France's paediatric healthcare sector.

Some 30 children have been transferred to hospitals outside of the Paris region, as emergency services in the capital are overwhelmed by a convergence of a large number of bronchiolitis cases needing hospitalisation, and a staffing shortage in paediatric services.