A union representing medics across Valencia reported that Primary Care doctors now only have around 2 minutes, at times, to see a patient, due to the saturation of the service.
The Sindicato Médico is demanding a daily maximum limit be set for patients, as the current situation of on-site and telephone consultations does not allow doctors to attend to patients with a minimum quality of care.
Agendas with 53, 60, 63, 68 and up to 72 patients each day is what Primary Care doctors find. But politicians continue to talk about problems in Madrid in order to avoid airing their own shame.
These figures are for scheduled appointments, and do not include those who arrive at the health centres in an “urgent” manner and who did not have an appointment. An unsustainable situation that in this time of meteorological changes exacerbates respiratory problems and in the face of which the Department of Health had a total lack of foresight.
It is worth noting the lack of primary care physicians, and their saturation, is coupled with the difficulty that citizens find in accessing primary care services, with waits of up to 15 days in some cases.
This in turn is collapsing both hospital and extra-hospital emergency services. Since the citizenship to be able to be attended goes to these centres collapsing them equally, they say.
It is not only at health centres where doctors are under pressure, but also on the road, dealing with emergencies, with ambulances which should carry a doctor, the SAMU, frequently being sent to incidents without the necessary medical support.
SAMU ambulances are supposed to be staffed with a doctor, a nurse and a technician, but, once again, this week, they have been sent to incidents with two technicians and a nurse, and no doctor present, a situation which is set to continue over the holiday period in some places.
December 23, San Juan and Benidorm do not have a doctor assigned to SAMU. On 24 December, Sueca nor Morella will have doctors in their SAMUs. On Christmas day, Paterna and Massamagrell will lack a doctor. On December 26, up to 8 SAMUs do not have an assigned doctor.
A pattern which continues and is set to be worse on December 30 when there is also no doctor assigned to the air ambulance.
