The College of Physicians of Las Palmas, which groups together professionals from Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria, has made an "imperious and distressing appeal" to the entire political class, "given the absolutely unsustainable situation of primary care physicians, further aggravated by the latest wave of the pandemic." "To the politicians who govern, because they do not dare to make risky decisions, and to those in the opposition, because they only seem interested in things being done badly for their own benefit. We need management that is up to the current adverse circumstances," they demand.
In a statement, they defend that Covid "cannot paralyze medical activity" and emphasize that currently "epidemiological data has a secondary value." "As of today, the incidence of severe disease from Covid-19 is lower than that of the flu. In our community, admissions to the ICU are 0.12% among active cases (mostly in unvaccinated or pluripathological patients)," they point out, noting that the pandemic "already reaches all of us," but its severity has changed. "Is there anyone who has not gotten sick or has not had contact with someone who is sick, with someone who, in turn, has been with someone else who...?" they ask.
Therefore, they maintain that "what is urgent now is to treat the sick, all the sick!", and emphasize that "problems such as myocardial infarctions, increasingly common mental health issues, strokes, or cancer have not ended."
"Primary care physicians must prioritize and cannot dedicate their already scarce time to completing epidemiological reports, processing the exorbitant number of sick leaves for positives, communicating Covid test results, informing the population about guidelines in case of close contact, having symptoms or being positive, and conducting unnecessary clinical follow-ups for people without risk factors with mild conditions," the professionals argue.
In addition, they accompany their demands with "proposals." One of them is that just as "vaccination centers" have been created, "test centers" can be created, outside of primary care medical consultations.
"These same centers should be managed by other healthcare professionals and take care of the bureaucratic procedures involved," they demand, such as "communicating the informative details of the pandemic," "processing the sick leaves of positives (which generate an average of three visits, mostly unscheduled)," "solving problems with Covid vaccination certificates," and "providing recovery reports after the illness and other related documents, etcetera."
They also ask that priority be given to Health Centers "taking care of acute patients, mostly non-Covid, patients with chronic diseases who need check-ups to avoid decompensation, and preventive and community actions that are so necessary and currently forgotten."
They criticize the lack of information: there is no longer case tracking
"Information to the population is crucial at this time. With the changes in protocols from December 31st, the isolation period in positive vaccinated cases with mild symptoms is reduced to 7 days instead of 10, institutional contact tracing is abandoned except in the case of vulnerable people and socio-health personnel, so diagnostic tests will not be performed on asymptomatic contacts in most cases. These changes, which a priori might seem like a relief in healthcare pressure, if not well explained and accompanied by information campaigns that reach the population, generate many doubts in patients that cause them to consult even more, as is logical, to resolve them, increasing the burden again on doctors and nursing staff in Primary Care," they emphasize.
"It is crucial, please, politicians, speak clearly and with a single voice to the population. The dissemination of current protocols continues to fail scandalously through credible sources and all available media, with repeated messages morning, afternoon, and night. Social networks are not enough," they insist.
Thus, they consider it necessary to clarify to citizens that "if they do not have symptoms or the symptoms are mild, they do not need medical attention", and that they should only go to the health center if there is "high fever that does not subside" and go to the hospital "if they have difficulty breathing or other serious symptoms."
"Diabetics, asthmatics, heart patients, incipient cancers, in short, the truly sick, are welcome to the face-to-face consultation, where the action of primary care physicians is fundamental," they add.
"We can't do more, the ball is in the politicians' court. Doctors are not responsible for the chaos that exists right now in Primary Care, they are the victims. Doctors are overwhelmed, both physically and psychologically. The exhaustion of professionals not only affects them but also directly affects patients, whose safety is threatened. We expect an urgent and adequate response from our Ministry of Health before the doctors who are still providing assistance stop doing so due to illness or abandonment," they conclude.
