The Minister of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands, Esther Monzón, in a recent interview on Radio Lanzarote-Onda Cero, has taken stock of her management at the head of the Health area in the Canary Islands during this first year of legislature and has advanced the plans in sanitary infrastructure for Lanzarote.
The Minister has highlighted the progress that has been implemented in Lanzarote during that period of time. "Different services that were demanded for years by the people of Lanzarote have been brought closer to the patients, such as the opening of the radiotherapy bunker and the Hemodynamics Unit", the Minister highlighted..
Regarding the waiting lists, Monzón has stated that after "a year of much effort and analysis", through the proposal of the health plan, a year has been achieved that is "really good". "And as for the waiting times for surgical operations, the news is positive", according to Monzón. "We have greatly reduced the average waiting time for surgical interventions in Lanzarote", they specified.
Monzón has exposed some of the difficulties that arise when filling the positions of some specific specialties. "That lack of specialists in certain specialties is inevitable, there is a significant lack when it comes to attending", she pointed out. In addition, the Minister has recognized that "one of the reasons is that many health professionals go abroad to work, instead of staying in the Canary Islands", "the salary they are paid in other countries, as is the case in England, where they can earn twice as much". "In Europe, much more is paid for a job in Healthcare", she revealed.
"We have greatly reduced the average waiting time for surgical interventions in Lanzarote"
In addition, Monzón has highlighted one of the measures implemented in Lanzarote to speed up the procedures in all the health centers on the island, which consists of having a doctor, a nurse and an administrative staff in the primary care consultations. "Some of the procedures are administrative, such as care or follow-up consultations, the patient does them with the doctor, but they can be done by a nurse or administrative staff", she explained. In Lanzarote, the measure "is practically implemented in Primary Care", she pointed out.
Monzón has also spoken about the budget allocated to Health. "It always falls short", the area has "almost 40% of the budget of the Autonomous Community", specifically, "about 4,369 million euros". "An amount of money that in the end a lot of money goes to, pharmacy bills and treatments and the day-to-day of the health centers", she highlighted.
"The Arrecife City Council has not ceded the land for the Argana health center"
Esther Monzón has advanced the news about the works of the new health centers in Lanzarote, specifically in the neighborhood of Argana and Playa Honda. The Minister has pointed out that "they are working on the project of the health center in the Arrecife neighborhood, something that is of "great importance" to them. "We will release the project as soon as we have the transfer of the land, which is an issue that concerns the city council, which has not yet ceded it", she added.
Once the budget has been established to be able to execute the works, it is estimated that with "luck" the construction of the health center will last about "three years", she stated. She recalled that the population of Arrecife has grown in the last 20 years "a lot" so it is necessary to adapt "those services to the reality of the population".
Regarding the health center of Playa Honda, in which there has already been a "concession of the land", the Minister has denied the accusation of the City Council that the Ministry was hindering the works, "I have come to Lanzarote to meet with him (Isidro Pérez) and we have not hindered anything", she clarified to the citizens. In her words, she has stated that the City Council requested the transfer of the land to the Canarian Health Service, but not to Patrimonio. "The "owner" of it is Patrimonio and it has to be done through them", she pointed out.
In addition, the Minister has revealed that "finally the land file has been completed" and immediately afterwards, she has specified the moment in which the works are scheduled to begin. "We have it in the budget and we are going to release the project to start the work with a view to 2025", the date on which the construction will begin.
"We are going to release the project of the Playa Honda health center with a view to 2025"
In the case of the Mala health center, it has been demanded by the citizens that it also be an emergency 24 hours, to which Monzón has explained that they are "studying the proposal". "It is not a crazy measure", she said. "We are looking at the flow of people who come and the kilometers they have to travel, in addition to knowing if it is within the security protocols", she stressed. In addition, the possibility of putting an ambulance for the northern area, is another of the issues that "we have on the table".
Technical reasons why there is no medical helicopter in Lanzarote
The Minister has assured that the refusal to promote the acquisition of a medical helicopter for the island is based on a technical report. Despite the demand, the document showed that according to what the technicians understood "we were not going to get the most out of it", she argued.
Unlike Fuerteventura, the neighboring island, the hospital of Lanzarote "does not have a heliport", the main reason why the project has not been promoted. "There is no area to put it, in Fuerteventura it has been put in place because it has a heliport in the hospital", she clarified.
