Worrying article from La Marina Plaza (Google translated)
- Marina Salud no longer gives appointments in Ophthalmology, Dermatology, Traumatology, Surgery, Locomotor Apparatus and various diagnostic tests, having exceeded six months of waiting in a situation that the unions attribute to the flight of specialists and lack of personnel
Those who wait to be treated at the hospital in Dénia despair. The lack of personnel, especially alarming in counters and wardens, has been aggravated by the flight of specialists in recent months. And the wait is longer in the different units. Intersindical Salut Dénia now puts numbers to that collapse revealing a situation that can well be described as generalized.
The hospital of Dénia, managed by Marina Salud.
And is that last week “all alarms jumped” when the union could confirm that “right now can not be scheduled for the following specialties: Ophthalmology, Dermatology, Traumatology, Surgery and Locomotor Unit.” Also, he adds, you can not give citations for different types of tests: radiology with contrast, mammography, breast ultrasound or magnetic resonance.
The reason is that Marina Salud has closed the agendas in these specialties and diagnostic tests, according to Intersindical Salut, that the agendas are complete for the next six months, and after the scandal that occurred when it came to light that Marina Salud was giving appointments a year ago, the company has decided that it is better not to give them. It is a usual maneuver to which the concessionaire company resorts to avoid that the waiting time to be attended is reflected in the statistics of waiting lists. The union explains: “When the patient goes to the doctor, or the specialist, and tells him that he has to take an appointment, they tell him at the counter that they can not give it to him. They will call you by phone. And indeed they call him. But something very serious, very serious, is happening here. And is that many times patients are cited knowing that in the future they will have to decite, that is, call again by phone to cancel the appointment. Not only is it being loaded of useless work to a group already very overloaded. Something that in Valencian is called ‘the matalafer’s job: fer i desfer’. But it is playing with the lives and hopes of people and families, who have to organize to be able to keep appointments, ask for permission in their jobs, etc. so that later, two or three days before the appointment, they will be called back from the hospital to cancel it. ” Something that in Valencian is called ‘the matalafer’s job: fer i desfer’. But it is playing with the lives and hopes of people and families, who have to organize to be able to keep appointments, ask for permission in their jobs, etc. so that later, two or three days before the appointment, they will be called back from the hospital to cancel it. ” Something that in Valencian is called ‘the matalafer’s job: fer i desfer’. But it is playing with the lives and hopes of people and families, who have to organize to be able to keep appointments, ask for permission in their jobs, etc. so that later, two or three days before the appointment, they will be called back from the hospital to cancel it. “
The origin: the reduction of working conditions in August 2016
The situation is a consequence, mainly, of two factors. The march of specialists and the lack of human resources in other groups of workers of the health department, such as the caretakers of the hospital or the attention staff in this and in the outpatient clinics. And in relation to the flight of doctors, for Intersindical there is no doubt that it has its origin in the summer of last year. In August 2016 the Substantial Modification of Working Conditions of the department was signed and this, says the union, “is going through a bill much more bulky than the company expected”. The flight of professionals that prompted “has not yet been able to replenish”, which generates a “deficit of almost all specialties.”
As an example, Intersindical alludes to what happens in Dermatology. “We’ve been with just one dermatologist for the entire department for almost two months.” Moreover, the only one who was there was recently on vacation and was not replaced, so for 15 days the region was without a dermatologist. The union suggests that the union is considering “packing” due to “the pressure to which this professional is subjected”.
The other “fire”: the lack of personnel in counters
As noted before, not only the escape of specialists is translating into collapse. Another part of the blame is that “the health department is setting fire to the department” according to the union: the cutbacks in staff at the health center counters and the hospital emergency rooms.
Intersindical says that “the cuts in the support staff and administration of health centers have probably been the most drastic of those made by Marina Salud”, and that “it shows”. “Not only is there a lack of people at the counters, we must not forget that it is the first point of contact between the user and the health system, but also because of the shortage of personnel and the lack of foresight, professionals are constantly changing centers.”
Among those changes, the one introduced in Gata attracts attention, where Marina Salud has left the health center without a caretaker after 3:00 p.m. Precisely Gata and Pedreguer are the only outpatient departments in the department that do not have a night watchman, between 10 pm and 8 am, which for Intersindical is “a comparative grievance that has no justification whatsoever” that now also remains enlarges in Gata.
Another example: the Dénia Health Center has already warned that the counter will be closed from 3 pm on November 9, 13, 15 and 23, “all for not wanting to hire more caretakers.”
And is that the lack of guards is common throughout the department. According to the data provided by the union, there are 48 in the Dénia hospital while, for example, in the Gandia hospital, for a region like La Safor with a little less population than the Marina Alta, there are 92.
Intersindical: “And while Sanidad is dedicated to strolling through the health centers to hype and saucer”
Faced with this situation, in Intersindical Salud demand from the Ministry of Health the appropriate measures to “force the concessionaire to comply with its obligations.” In this sense, they regret that, instead, “the commissioner and the general director of the High Inspection are dedicated to walk through the health centers of the region to hype and saucer.”
Therefore, the union asks “when will the council take the bull by the horns and put an end to this disastrous business that is costing the Marina Alta so dearly”.
