Nueva Canarias-Bloque Canarista (NC-BC) achieved this Wednesday the unanimous support of Parliament to recognize the professional category of the Healthcare Emergency Technician (TES) in the Canary Islands. The parliamentary spokesperson for NC-BC on health matters and president of the party in Lanzarote, Yoné Caraballo, stated that the non-legal proposition, promoted by the Canarian group, seeks the official and remunerative recognition of some 3,000 active professionals in the Archipelago.
Yoné Caraballo, during the defense of his initiative, highlighted the agreement of the entire plenary after the work carried out to reach a consensus on some transactional amendments. The reason, according to the NC-BC deputy, is the obligation to dignify the work of this group of workers, ensuring that "they are not stretcher-bearers or transporters, but essential professionals in critical situations."
He denounced the "labor and economic injustices, indicating that they earn salaries ranging between 1,100 euros and 1,300 euros, which does not allow for a decent life, especially in places with a high cost of living like Lanzarote." Many TES, he continued, "combine the work of 'saving lives' with other jobs or abandon it to make ends meet."
Yoné Caraballo lamented that, despite having specialized training of more than 2,000 lecture hours and a title regulated by the Royal Decree Law, "they are not professionally recognized" as technicians in the Canary Islands.
He alluded to the existence of institutional contradictions by ensuring that, "although the Canarian Emergency Service (SUC) presumes and values the work of the TES as a fundamental part of the Canarian health system, the subcontracting companies classify them as non-technical personnel to pay them lower salaries." For Caraballo, this reality "is an absolute incoherence between what is demanded of them and what is officially recognized."
The Canarian spokesperson explained with concrete examples that the TES are the "first to act" in the event of accidents or cardiorespiratory arrests. Those who, he recalled, were on the "front line" during the coronavirus pandemic, "often without adequate protection." Those who create bonds with chronic patients, in addition to being characterized by giving empathetic and human attention.
Caraballo emphasized that he promoted the non-legal proposition "for the official and remunerative recognition of the professional category of healthcare emergency technicians. An initiative that, after alluding to the fact that it implies a greater economic cost for the Government of the Canary Islands, he considered that it is a "fair and necessary" investment, in which the State should also contribute. He made a call to follow the example of the Balearic Islands, the first community to recognize the professional category of this group."
Amendments
The transactional amendments agreed upon between all the groups and supported unanimously urge the Government of the Canary Islands to initiate the necessary administrative procedures for the recognition, for all purposes, of the professional category of the current healthcare transport technicians of the Canary Islands, currently called "stretcher-bearers" and "drivers," granting them the category of healthcare emergency technician.
Propose to the social agents the participation of healthcare transport unions (urgent and non-urgent) in the sectoral health table as long as matters related to human resources that affect them are addressed, leaving those matters specific to transport in the general transport table.
Implement monitoring and control mechanisms so that the companies awarded healthcare transport in the Archipelago fully comply with the signed agreements, especially in the recognition of the professional category and the working conditions of the technicians in healthcare emergencies.
Ensure the continuous improvement of the service through the renovation and adaptation of healthcare material, thus guaranteeing safe and quality care for citizens.
The Chamber also requests the Government of the Canary Islands to urge the State Executive to provide the mandatory financing, transferring to the Canarian community the adequate and sufficient amounts to face the increase in spending that the creation of the professional category of the TES would entail.
