Unions at Torrevieja hospital have revealed there is a lack of basic medicines for chronic patients and vaccines from the Community’s mandatory schedule for children in health centres – which mothers must buy.
Following the allegations, a meeting was arranged to highlight the situation.
The news about under fire Torrevieja hospital – of which 150,000 registered inhabitants rely on along with tourists – comes on the back of an increase of waiting times for patients having increased significantly.
There are 1,472 patients pending colonoscopy with an average wait of 4 months – 131 days – 859 pending gastroscopy – with more than three months of waiting, 111 days.
On Surgical waiting lists, 2,497 patients are waiting to be operated on with 2,131 patients waiting over six months.
The audits of the Audit Office of the Generalitat Valenciana placed the Torrevieja Health Department at the forefront of health care while it was managed through public-private collaboration by Ribera Salud for 15 years.
The arrival of the coalition (PSPV-Compromís-Podemos) to the Government of the Community began the process of reverting concessions to public health for ideological reasons.
All areas had to be managed by the Ministry independent of their results. On October 15 Torrevieja came under the umbrella.
Unions reportedly accuse the Ministry of the socialist Ana Barceló of the lack of doctors, unpaid payroll, the incorporation of health professionals without a contract and without registration in Social Security.
Seventeen heads of service had left the hospital, prior to October 15.
Ana Barceló had reportedly assured before the reversal that 6,000 professionals had registered in the job market. And successively processes have been opened that have allowed new incorporations. But not doctors, but nurses, assistants and guards it is said.
Union sources warn of an oversize of the templates of these health professionals – who cannot work without doctors to supervise and analyse the tests.
Problems have occurred in the Emergency and Primary, with reports of patients in corridors and endless waiting to be seen, as witnessed by The Leader with a reported 50% of Emergency medical staff having left the hospital, and 16 doctors of the 32 that were employed there in October.
The waiting time for assistance has doubled to an average of 164 minutes – the time for a patient to be admitted to their ward multiplying.
In December and January, reports state there were octogenarian patients who spent more than three days waiting for beds.
Patients who can financially afford to pay have turned to Private hospitals.
Referrals to other hospitals for radiology tests, including CT or ultrasound, have reportedly seen personnel reduced from nine radiologists to three.
There is no head of Service or co-ordinator, that has led to the Medical Union of the Valencian Community CESM denouncing it as 9,020 patients wait for a visit.
The Conselleria concerned about the appointment of people linked to the PSPV-PSOE as the new economic deputy director, has reportedly deactivated the Ana Barceló, a tool that allowed the patient to quickly and easily contact their primary care doctor and that accumulated millions of messages exchanged between patients and professionals.
