The Nursing Union, SATSE in the Canary Islands, rejects the statements made by the Minister of Health, Esther Monzón, in the Parliament of the Canary Islands in which she assured that there is no job insecurity in the hiring of nursing professionals in the Canary Islands Health Service (SCS).
The union states that there are numerous indicators to affirm that job insecurity exists in the SCS, such as workload, short-term contracts, high turnover of professionals in different services, even with contracts that do not allow them to know where they will work because every 15 days you are moved from one place to another.
Not even the vacations and leaves of temporary staff are being covered, as SATSE has been repeatedly reporting in recent months, the union assures in a statement.
SATSE has had access to data from the Ministry itself, which shows that, in some management areas, more than 80% of the contracts made between June and August of this year do not exceed 7 days in duration.
In fact, the trade union organization maintains that, this year, only 75 percent of absences due to vacations have been covered, and that the first days of sick leave, permits, reduced working hours, and others have been systematically left uncovered.
This means that approximately 25 percent of professionals are not being replaced.
In this regard, SATSE requests from the SCS the real percentage of temporary employment by category, the number of appointments of less than one month and, specifically, of 15 days or less, that have been made in the summer period, the number and percentage of vacations, sick leaves, and permits effectively replaced, the working hours and shifts worked, the evolution of workloads and healthcare activity, among other indicators.
On August 19, SATSE Canarias reported to the Ombudsman the "repeated and systematic" use by the SCS of temporary substitution appointments of barely 15 days.
According to the trade union organization, successive appointments would be being chained to cover the same temporary incapacity, leave of absence with reservation of position, or other prolonged absences.
In other words, while the Administration presents the increase in the Human Resources budget as an achievement, a different issue persists that affects the daily lives of numerous professionals: how they are hired and for how long job continuity is actually guaranteed.
In fact, SATSE maintains that, this year, there has been a change in the form and duration of contracts in the SCS, with a rate of 75% of actual needs. This means that around 25% of professionals are not being replaced.
In many cases, vacations and sick leave are not covered from the first day.
At the beginning of September, on the occasion of the International Day of Physiotherapy, SATSE also denounced the severe shortage of physiotherapists in the Canary Islands public health system, demanding an urgent reinforcement of the staff of the Canary Islands Health Service (SCS).
The Union pointed out that the deficit of professionals is especially worrying in Primary Care.
In Tenerife, there are barely 44 physiotherapists to cover the 42 Basic Health Zones, while in Gran Canaria only 21 physiotherapists provide service for 41 Basic Health Zones.
This provision is insufficient to respond to the needs of an increasingly aging population with a higher incidence of chronic diseases, traumatological processes, and pathologies that require rehabilitative treatment.
Add La Voz de Lanzarote as a preferred Google source.
Stay informed with the latest current news.