Health infrastructures have also been accompanied on the island with the opening of the Local Clinic of La Graciosa; the installation of the elevator in the Health Center of San Bartolomé; the adaptation of the basement and the sanitation of the roof in the Health Center of Tías; the installation of alarms in the bathrooms for use by the disabled in several Centers (Valterra, Tías, Teguise) and the start of the works of the new Health Center of Playa Blanca.
Also, within the Infrastructure Plan, works are underway in the Health Centers and/or Local Clinics of Playa Blanca, Puerto del Carmen, Argana, Yaiza, Tinajo, Costa Teguise, Playa Honda and the Emergency Area of Valterra.
Waiting Lists
In relation to the waiting lists, Roldós offered the latest data. "Taking into account that the main emphasis has been placed on people who were on the surgical waiting list for more than six months, this has decreased in the Doctor José Molina Orosa Hospital by 27.16 percent." Likewise, he also highlighted that the average waiting time on the island "has been reduced in recent months by 14.56 percent."
A step of future for nursing
In addition, Sanidad explains that it continues with the procedures of the Teaching Unit of Obstetric-Gynecological Nursing, as an annex to the Insular-Maternal and Child Hospital Complex. It has also initiated the Nursing Unit of Continuity of Care between care settings, responsible for the activity of continuing nursing education. According to the Ministry, on July 1 of this year all vacancies for midwives in specialized care were filled.
Actions in the Hospital
Among the actions that Sanidad assures to be carrying out in the Doctor José Molina Orosa Hospital are works that are about to be delivered definitively, such as five changing rooms with 850 lockers in Emergencies; 5 delivery rooms; an Obstetrics Unit with 34 beds, a Traumatology Unit with 35 beds and 4 operating rooms. Likewise, the expansion works of the pharmacy are being finalized and those of Radiology continue. The remodeling of the Pathological Anatomy service will begin soon. In the field of new technologies, an automated sample distribution equipment in the clinical analysis laboratory has been recently acquired.
It also highlights the hiring of 15 new specialists: endocrinologist, gastroenterologist, hematologist, internal medicine doctor, rheumatologist, neurologist, endocrinologist, oncologist and seven more doctors in the Emergency Service. Likewise, a new phoniatrist has also been hired to perform speech therapy services.
The Doctor José Molina Orosa Hospital attended a total of 154,572 external consultations during 2007, 5.86 percent more than those registered in the same period of the previous year. Regarding surgical activity, 6,890 interventions were performed, 12.40 percent more than those registered in 2006. Likewise, 557 patients from Lanzarote were treated in their own homes through the Home Hospitalization Services, a modality of care where the patient is treated in their home with the physical and mental comfort that this entails.
On March 14, the Hospital Educational Care Service of the Doctor José Molina Orosa Hospital was presented, where hospitalized children can continue their schooling until they rejoin the school when they are discharged. The Hospital Classroom of Lanzarote has been operating since 2007 and in the first quarter of 2008 it has welcomed about 225 children temporarily who, due to their hospitalization, cannot attend school. For the older ones, this Hospital Classroom has expanded its possibilities through the Network and other multimedia applications.
The General Hospital of Lanzarote has a total of 171 doctors, 9.62 percent more than in 2006. The non-faculty health personnel amounts to 525, which represents an increase of 9.38 percent compared to 2006. For its part, the non-health personnel totals 226 professionals, 3.20 percent more than in 2006. The figures on Human Resources of the Hospital of Lanzarote result in an increase in the staff of 7.65 percent.
The process of expansion and reform of the hospital of Lanzarote has been designed and executed in three phases. Currently all the projected works of phase I and II are finished and work is being done on the culmination of phase III of the Hospital Expansion and Improvement Plan. The total amount of the works is 45,663,000 euros and the amount allocated to equipment is 20,584,000 euros.
During her visit to the island, the Minister of Health, Mercedes Roldós, also attended the meeting of the Hospital Participation Commission of the Health Area of Lanzarote, a collegiate body of community participation of a consultative nature on the planning, control and evaluation of the assistance that corresponds to each Hospital integrated in the Canarian Health Service (SCS). Among other tasks, the commission also has the function of knowing and reporting on the annual management report of the hospital center; receiving information and raising proposals on the personnel policy, the general policy of service agreements with other entities, public or private, as well as that relating to purchases and supplies.
This body is also responsible for proposing to the management bodies of the Hospital the adoption of any measures it deems appropriate for the adaptation of its activities to the health needs of the Health Area and, in general, those relating to the improvement of the quality of care. It must also know and develop proposals on the hospital's care action plans, as well as proposals on the economic programs for each fiscal year and on the management programs by objectives that derive from the previous programs.
Balance of a year of legislature
Mercedes Roldós took the opportunity to take stock of her first year of legislature in Lanzarote. Thus, she commented that in the different Basic Health Zones of the island there has been notable progress with the establishment of new and modern services.
In the Satisfaction Survey conducted between November 2006 and April 2007 to the Canarian population on the Primary Care services of the Canarian Health Service, through a telephone interview in which the opinion of the interviewees was requested about the assistance provided by Primary Care, 72.7 percent of the users surveyed in Lanzarote rated the care received in their Health Center with a remarkable or outstanding (7 to 10 points out of 10).
The Foundation for Attention to Drug Addictions of the Spanish Red Cross (CREFAT) awarded in August 2007 the "Queen Sofía Award for Social Work" to the network of care centers for drug dependencies of Lanzarote, a prestigious award that constitutes one of the most important distinctions at the national level in the action against the problems derived from drug use.
In Arrecife, the Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands has opened, in recent months, the so-called "Anti-Smoking Consultation" as well as two Family Care Units (Argana); a Family Care Unit (Tinajo) and a new Pediatric Care Unit in Valterra and Costa Teguise. Likewise, the consultations of the Mental Health Unit have been expanded.
In the Basic Health Zone of Tías, it has been increased to 4 teams at the Continuous Care Point and the computer room has been moved. For its part, Yaiza has also had the opening of a Family Care Unit in the Local Clinic of Playa Blanca, which has seen the continuous care of physical presence prolonged until 10:00 p.m.
The restructuring of emergency care in the Health Area of Lanzarote; the Colony of diabetics of 2008; the opening of the Consultation of the Tuberculosis Unit or, at the computer level, the expansion of the version of OMI 6.5 to all the Health Centers and Local Clinics of the Area have been other of the actions put in place.