Abnormally high mortality, neglected physical care and minors illegally locked up with adults: the psychiatric center of Melun hospital is today in the sights of the authorities.
These are chilling revelations. The General Controller of places of deprivation of liberty (CGLPL) has just published an alarming report on the psychiatric center of the Melun-Sénart hospital in 77 (Seine-et-Marne). Lhe safety and dignity of patients would no longer be guaranteed, withn “abnormally high” mortality rate.
The human toll drawn up by the report is particularly heavy: 7 deaths recorded in just 19 months (between January 2024 and August 2025) for a capacity of 88 beds, 5 of which were hospitalized without consent, as revealed in an article in Le Parisien. This observation is all the more worrying since none of these deaths is attributable to suicide, directly pointing to a flaw in overall medical care. The Controller denounces an abandonment of the monitoring of “classic” pathologies (known as somatic) in favor of psychiatric treatment alone. The lack of written traceability in medical records and gaps in transmission between caregivers have led to critical situations: vital alerts, such as severe arterial hypotension or unaided sleep apnea, would not have been treated, leaving patients in a fatal physical vulnerability. However, a patient hospitalized in psychiatry has the same right to general medical monitoring (heart, blood pressure, breathing) as any other patient.
The report also points to a major deviation regarding child protection: due to a lack of suitable structures in the department, minors are hospitalized full-time in adult units, in total contradiction with the regulations in force. Beyond this inappropriate promiscuity, the controller denounces practices of isolation and restraint exercised on children who are nevertheless admitted to “free care”. These particularly traumatic measures of force would not only be applied illegally, but would also suffer from a total lack of traceability in official records.
Finally, the report points to an “abusive” use of confinement. With 14 isolation rooms for 88 beds, the establishment exceeds the ratios observed everywhere else in France, including in units for difficult patients. This is a real problem because seclusion and restraint should only be measures of last resort, limited in time and monitored very closely. Here, the controller denounces insufficient paramedical supervision for patients thus isolated. Last February, the Île-de-France Regional Health Agency ordered the closure of four hospitalization units for children and adolescents at the Fondation Vallée in Gentilly (Val-de-Marne) following undignified confinement practices contrary to children’s rights.
The Ministry of Health now has four weeks to respond to the CGLPL’s observations at the Melun psychiatric hospital, and propose corrective measures. If you have a loved one hospitalized, remember that the medical file must be shared: any physical illness (diabetes, hypertension, etc.) must be treated with the same rigor as psychological disorders. Isolation is a medical measure that must be justified, written and limited. The hospital management is required to provide reliable figures on its activities. If you believe that the rights of a loved one are not respected, you can contact the CGLPL directly or contact an association of patients’ families such as UNAFAM.
