Carmen is 65 years old, suffers from Parkinson's disease and needs help with any daily activity, but only has the support of her husband, who suffers from cancer. Both have been waiting ten months just for the medical assessment that will allow them to process the dependency, but the institutions have not even given them a date for that recognition yet.
"My wife needs help to shower, dress and even walk," says Hermenegildo. "I have the condition of an oncological patient, I don't know how long I'm going to last, but I want to get this resolved for her as soon as possible," he says bluntly.
The man explains that it was his neurologist who gave them "a paper" saying that they were applying for the Dependency Law, but for this a medical recognition is necessary, which depends on the Government of the Canary Islands. "I know that takes time, that it's not done in a day or two, but what doesn't seem normal to me is that it takes a year to see her," he says.
The couple requested the medical assessment in July 2021, and they were told that it would take "approximately three months" to contact them, but that period is about to be multiplied by four and the call has not yet arrived. "They never called me, so three months later I went to ask and they told me that they were reviewing the month of April, that I had to wait," he explains.
Given the long wait, the man has now asked again about the procedure and has gone to the Social Services of the Cabildo, which acts as an intermediary to collect the applications, although its resolution depends on the Government of the Canary Islands. And the answer has been that "there have been no doctors since January" and that "it is the Canary Islands Government that has to appoint them."
Hermenegildo describes the situation as "tremendous neglect" and stresses the importance of having this recognition, as it would allow him not only to have help to care for his wife, but also such simple things as being able to park in places closer to health centers, through the disability card.
"What I want is to be able to go to a hospital and not have to leave my wife 400 meters from the entrance when there is no parking nearby because I can't park in a disabled parking space," he explains. He also insists that "the longer they take to assess her, the longer it will take to get the card", since once they assess the degree of disability of his wife, "it will take 4 or 5 months more to give her the card".
Hermenegildo points out that the staff of the Cabildo has recommended him to "file a complaint" and, if he does not get an answer in 3 weeks, he can file a "complaint to the deputy of the common" and take it through the courts through "a lawyer of office, denouncing it before the Canarian Government".
For its part, the Ministry of Welfare insists that this issue "is not the responsibility of the Cabildo" and points out that the only doctor in charge of these medical assessments "has been on leave for two months". They also acknowledge that Carmen's case is not the only one in this situation and state that "the complaint has already been transferred".
"All I want is to draw the attention of those who have the responsibility, because they are abandoning people," warns Hermenegildo, who only wants an answer to one question: "When are they going to put that doctor to assess my wife?"
