The plenary session of the Parliament of the Canary Islands has approved, with the favorable votes of all groups except Vox, which abstained, to request the creation of the statutory category of general health psychologist.
The initiative originated from Nueva Canarias (NC), which accepted the amendments from the groups supporting the regional government, CC, PP, ASG, and AHI, which point out that "the ideal framework" to carry it out is the reform of the Law on the Regulation of Health Professions, currently undergoing public consultation.
Deputy Yoné Caraballo justified the need to consolidate the role of health psychologists in view of the "exponential growth" of mental health consultations in Primary Care after the covid pandemic and the "terrifying figure" of suicides in the islands: nine per 100,000 inhabitants.
Caraballo stressed that there are barely 47 Psychology professionals in Primary Care, an "absurd" figure, and asked, "how much would we save on pills?" if this staff were reinforced.
The NC deputy also emphasized that communities such as La Rioja, the Basque Country, and the Balearic Islands have already "progressed in the recognition and incorporation" of general psychologists into their public systems.
Miguel Ángel Pérez (PSOE) expressed his surprise that Navarra is not mentioned in the non-binding proposal, which "has not hidden behind an ideal legal framework and has shown that when there is political will, there are no impediments."
He criticized that the Government of the Canary Islands is "lagging behind" on this and other issues and that it "only understands self-government when it suits it," and asked it to exercise its powers because "we all like to look good," but doing politics "means getting involved."
José Alberto Díaz Estébanez (CC) justified the amendment incorporated into the final text by stating that it avoids sending "a wrong message" that generates "false expectations," and also avoids possible jurisdictional conflicts.
Mónica Muñoz (PP) shared the diagnosis with the nationalist deputy regarding what NC initially proposed, creating this statutory category in the Canary Islands Health Service without prior reform of state legislation, "has no legal basis at this time."
Nicasio Galván (Vox) has warned the psychologists present in the guest gallery of the Parliament of the Canary Islands that even though the non-binding proposal moves forward, other similar ones, such as that of the collective of auxiliary nursing care technicians (TACE), has been "stuck in a drawer and forgotten" for a year
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