The CSIF Sanidad Lanzarote Union Section has denounced "the latest measure adopted by the Primary Care Management" for the Valterra Health Center, consisting of "cutting a medical/nursing team" from the two it had in the 09:00 to 17:00 shift in the 24-hour emergency service. According to CSIF, the management has taken this measure justifying it "supposedly" on the grounds that "the healthcare numbers have decreased, with an average of 35 to 40 patients" during that time.
However, the union denounces that the reality is different. "We went to the center and were able to verify how during the period from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. up to 60 patients were seen and approximately 16 patients were left to be seen for the shift change; that is, an average of 76 patients to be treated by a single doctor and a single nurse, well above what the Administration refers to," said the union section, which was at the Valterra health center this Tuesday. In addition, they pointed out that given this number of patients in the center, "the staff could not even leave to go to eat."
Therefore, the CSIF Lanzarote Union Section has presented this Wednesday "a letter in the entry registry of the urgent Management, addressed to the Primary Care Management, denouncing this new measure, in addition to requesting average attendance data in the last 6 months."
"We cannot see patients as numbers"
According to CSIF, for two years the other team of workers on this shift "fought" to have a second team, "due to the workload and the quality of care." Therefore, they have assured that now they have had a "surprise" to learn that "as of this July 1, the measure has been taken to cut that extra team achieved approximately two years ago."
"From CSIF we believe that we do not improve the quality of care by cutting something that has been achieved previously," they have pointed out, adding that "we cannot see patients as numbers, since according to the administration if the average has decreased to 35-40 patients, of those many may be common colds, but others may be cases of more serious pathologies." In this last case, they have pointed out that the fact may occur that "the only medical/nursing team that is present has to spend a lot of time monitoring them in observation, leaving them unable to see other patients who arrive at the service, for example, until they are transferred to the Hospital if necessary." In addition, the union section has denounced that "they do not have a caretaker in that schedule to mobilize patients who come in urgently and need a chair or stretcher."
"It implies a worsening of the quality of care"
The Valterra Health Center has this 24-hour Emergency Service divided into two time periods. And in the 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. period "in principle, what is attended to are patients referred by doctors from the Valterra Health Center called 'out of hours', in addition to any user who requires an out-of-hospital emergency, whether tourist, from another basic health area or displaced."
The health union section has stated that "Valterra and its Normal Emergency Service, according to data from the Canary Islands Emergency Plan (2015), is one of the out-of-hospital emergency centers that treats the most patients per day in all of the Canary Islands, with an average that exceeds 150 patients per day, for example exceeding Vecindario with 128."
"From CSIF we do not agree with this measure, since it implies a worsening of the quality of care for patients, in addition to an overload of work for the staff who provide services in that time slot." "We also want to remind patients who come to the service during that time, that they can submit their claim at the admission desk, and that in the end the workers are also victims of the system," they added.
