Undue benefits, extravagant spending and disastrous human management in a Lyon psychiatric hospital

At the Saint-Cyr-au-Mont-d'Or psychiatric hospital, the new management has its work cut out for it. After two years of being placed under supervision, the regional audit office has just delivered the bill for a decade of errors and breaches by the former director of this establishment located north of the Lyon metropolitan area. Disastrous human management, failing public procurement, undue benefits... everything is being scrutinized by the financial magistrates while legal appeals are still pending.

Among the opulent villas perched on the slopes of the Monts d'Or massif, whose golden stone overlooks Lyon, the former Château de Saint-Cyr has housed the region's psychiatric patients since 1972. But after half a century of operation, nothing is going well at this facility, the ^third largest in the department, which receives 10,700 patients per year. The early 2020s were marked by suicides, a rape between patients, and particularly toxic management.

Skip the ad

The report of the regional audit office published on June 26th emphasizes the appalling relations maintained by the Saint-Cyr-au-Mont-d'Or hospital center (CHSCMO) with other psychiatric facilities in the region, led by the Vinatier hospital center, the regional hub. The cause is the lengthening of stays in its emergency unit, leading to its saturation and unavailability. "The main cooperations in which the CHSCMO took part during the audit period were generally unsatisfactory," note the financial magistrates.

The director, however, maintained excellent relations with a private clinic in the area located a few kilometers from the Monts d'Or in the commune of Vaugneray, west of Lyon. He produced a strategic orientation note to help it develop its activity. This was proof of "disloyalty" for the chamber, especially since his own establishment was experiencing a decline in activity at the time.

This drop in activity of around 15% in the number of patients over the period 2015-2022 has not resulted in a reduction in human resources, notes the CRC report, pointing to a drop in productivity. "Although medical staffing levels remained stable over the period, the number of procedures performed by healthcare professionals fell by more than 23%," write the financial magistrates. "Those performed by the medical profession recorded a drop of 35%."

On this aspect of resources, the CRC does not mention the already known accusations of harassment. But it does develop a string of significant deficiencies, "in terms of prevention and health." "The absence of a human resources policy led to the allocation of benefits, some of which are irregular," it also notes. This is the case with company cars used as company cars, the allocation of mobile phones, some of which were allegedly not returned by the former director, and the payment of traffic fines by the hospital. The vehicles had fuel and toll cards that were not declared as benefits in kind.

The court finally noted an established practice whereby meals intended for patients were ordered in very large quantities to feed staff, resulting in an estimated annual loss of €246,000. Unregulated overtime, poor time management, a solidarity day not performed, and a collective commitment bonus paid without justification complete these undue advantages. In terms of recruitment, the CRC points to repeated breaches of procedures and promotions without qualifications.

Skip the ad

A partial analysis of the hospital's purchasing card revealed yet again outlandish expenses. Expenses for leather goods, beauty and hair products, as well as clothing, sports equipment, chocolates, and flowers, thus appear to be out of step with the mission of a psychiatric hospital. "The high number of expenses is not very economical with public funds and calls for supervision, particularly in terms of catering, whether on site or during outings," adds the CRC.

Beyond that, the purchasing policy appears to be too loosely regulated for the financial magistrates' taste. They are still choking on the €43,000 worth of work undertaken on the villa made available to the director, even though the valuation process for the sale of this property was underway with France Domaine. "The expenses thus incurred are particularly wasteful of public funds, given that the property was ultimately destroyed as part of the sale," they note. However, work to make the hospital premises accessible to people with reduced mobility has never been carried out.

Reading the report, it seems logical that the ethics framework is so flawed. And the financial strategy is disjointed. This poses a challenge for the new director appointed last year. For the time being, not all legal remedies have been exhausted. This includes the administration order, which was overturned by the administrative court. The ARS has appealed.