The manager of the Lanzarote Health Services, Pablo Eguía, spoke last week on the radio program Radio Lanzarote - Onda Cero to talk about the state of healthcare on the island. "We have a good healthcare system in Lanzarote, I say it truthfully, even though we need to improve," Eguía began, after five months in the position.
The medical specialist in Neurology arrived on the island 23 years ago, but for the last two years, he worked at the Doctor Negrín Hospital in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on a research project on multiple sclerosis for health centers.
Waiting Lists and Lack of Specialists
"There is a continuous improvement of the healthcare system, and sometimes innovation almost outpaces the healthcare system's ability to incorporate it," he continued. Currently, one of the problems facing public healthcare in Lanzarote is waiting lists in the health system. Firstly, the manager differentiated the situation of the island's 15 public health centers from the reality of the hospital.
In the health center, "the average delay for your doctor [general practitioner] to see you is 3.8 days on average, and in Pediatrics, 1.7. We have centers with a one-day wait, two or five, no more," he said on the morning show Buenos días, Lanzarote.
Secondly, he narrated the situation of waiting lists at the Doctor José Molina Orosa University Hospital. Specifically, in consultations with specialists or surgical waits. "It's a complex issue" and "it must be put in the scenario at each moment," explained Pablo Eguía, who justified the problems in the waiting lists of a few months ago due to the damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic. However, he pointed out that the figures vary constantly.
The neurologist pointed out that, in a way, once the specialist sees you and while waiting for a second appointment, "we accumulate patients and accumulate delays." In this sense, he highlighted the lack of specialists in some areas. "We may not have the number of specialists we would like to have," revealed the manager.
The doctor indicated that although they are looking for professionals, those services that are not covered can be carried out at the Doctor Negrín hospital (Gran Canaria), which is the reference hospital for the province. In this line, Pablo Eguía added that "the population has never been unattended."
Regarding the lack of specialists, Pablo Eguía highlighted that the waiting times for specialties are highly variable. For example, he added that in the Neurology wing there are six specialists. However, "the specialty of Neurology has a very high demand. The aging of the population leads to a prevalence of self-degenerative diseases," he highlighted in his speech.
Eguía stressed that they have tried to find healthcare professionals, although it is not always an easy task. "There is a shortage of specialists in Europe, in Spain, in the Canary Islands, and therefore also in Lanzarote," he denounced. The manager reported that two more cardiologists will be joining the Molina Orosa, as the cardiology team is a growing space after the inauguration of the Hemodynamics Unit.
Reforms in Health Centers
In relation to the reform of the Mala health center (Haría), the manager of the Lanzarote Health Services highlighted that "the previous management team planned a reform of the facilities," at the same time, a hospital rehabilitation center was projected in it, to be "closer" to the citizens. According to Eguía, the reforms appear in the budget for this 2024. "We are going to see if it goes out to tender and if the construction companies find the budget for the work adequate and take it," he continued.
A health center in Playa Honda (San Bartolomé) is also planned on the island, which will be carried out by the Canarian Health Service and whose project could be released at the end of the year. "We are in the process of finalizing the project, once it is finished is when it can go out to tender," he advanced.
Meanwhile, regarding the creation of the Argana Health Center, he narrated that the transfer of land by the Arrecife City Council to the Canarian Health Service "has been slower. The last time I asked, it was in the Heritage and Infrastructure Service of the Ministry of Health, and once the land belongs to the Canarian Health Service, we can commission the project," he continued.
Eguía reported that the island's health centers "have been provided with more staff. A few years ago, we had some professionals in the centers, and now we have a significant increase with a strategy focused on Primary Care (PC): more professionals, more doctors, more nurses, physiotherapists, workers, midwives, speech therapists, a lot of professionals who somehow need space," concluded the manager.
In addition, both the Costa Teguise and Playa Blanca health centers have planned an expansion.
Radiotherapy and Hemodynamics
The Doctor José Molina Orosa Hospital continues to grow in Lanzarote. In the last months of last year, the radiotherapy bunker and the Hemodynamics Unit were approved. On December 13, the first cancer patient was treated in the newly inaugurated radiotherapy bunker in Lanzarote. A little over a month later, with data from the end of January, Eguía reported that a "total of 39 patients" have already been treated and "364 radiotherapy sessions" have been performed. While in the Hemodynamics Unit, 169 catheterizations were performed until last week.
Eguía also explained that "the accelerator will stop soon for two or three days, and during that period the head of Radiation Oncology will propose to patients to use the Fuerteventura or Negrín accelerator on those days, depending on what the patient finds most suitable for their conditions."
Currently, the radiotherapy bunker allows the residents of Lanzarote to be treated on the island and not have to travel to Gran Canaria as was the case until December of last year. However, according to the manager, except for emergency cases, all patients have their first consultation at the Doctor Negrín Hospital in Gran Canaria.
"From there, the patient is treated in Lanzarote, the team of the radiation oncologist is the same team from Negrín as ours, and then we contribute, well, nursing, technicians, administrative staff, that is, the unit is a Mixed Unit," he concluded.
