In sweltering French hospital, air-conditioned waiting room offers some relief

FLEURY-MEROGIS, France, June 25 - In a private hospital just south of Paris, the most popular place these days is the waiting room. It has books, table football and a TV showing the soccer World Cup - but what staff and patients really appreciate is the air conditioning.

As France suffers its highest temperatures on record, the realisation is spreading that many hospitals, schools, factories and homes are not equipped to face climate change.

The Frédéric-Henri Manhès hospital in Fleury-Mérogis has large bay windows - the kind that looked great when it was built in the middle of the 20th century, when heatwaves were not a problem in western Europe. But now, they act like the panes of a greenhouse.

Patients' rooms are very hot, and medical staff are constantly checking that they have enough water and feel OK. In some corridors, the lights are switched off to keep the place cooler, but it makes little difference, and staff move patients to the air-conditioned waiting room downstairs.

STAFF AND PATIENTS SUFFER FROM FRANCE'S HEATWAVE

"It's hell. I'll watch a little bit of a show and then I'll go back downstairs (to the waiting room)," said Christine, an in-patient since April, lying in bed with her arm around an electric fan.

"Well, the fan has some effect, but I'm holding it as close to me as I can. I can’t get it any closer," she chuckled.

Public and private hospitals across France report say patients and staff alike are struggling.

"The level of care we provide is reduced because we’re tired, we sleep badly, and these heat conditions are hard to cope with," said Sandra Carnero, a nurse in Frédéric-Henri Manhès's psychiatric unit.

"Patients are also tired; it can affect their morale and sometimes even worsen their condition. For safety reasons, we can't open the windows fully," she added. "It’s muggy, it’s humid. Even without moving, we sweat at the slightest effort; you feel like you might faint."

Kathy, a patient, said she makes sure to sit right in front of a fan, to keep her cool and "keep a clear head".

Air conditioning is contentious in France. The far-right National Rally wants a plan to install more of it nationwide while many on the left say this is a knee-jerk response that will only increase energy use in the longer term and so potentially add to the environmental pressures driving global warming.

Still, a middle-ground is emerging that air conditioning would be desirable for hospitals and schools. Manhès, for instance, does provide cooling for its most fragile patients, including those on dialysis.

Putting it in the whole hospital would be another matter, said its general director, Maxime Putton.

"In our institutions, where financial balances are sometimes complex, investing heavily in air conditioning may mean investing less in something else, unless there is specific state funding," he said.

"But there will come a time when, if these incidents (heatwaves) become more frequent, as the director, I'll have no choice but to find solutions that allow patients to continue staying with us in good conditions." REUTERS