The president of the Parliamentary Group Sí Podemos Canarias, María del Río, has asked the Minister of Health, Blas Trujillo, to solve the "serious health problems" of Lanzarote beyond the specific ones of the pandemic. "Although the urgent thing is to save lives in danger due to Covid-19, we must not forget that in Lanzarote we have other pathologies, some also very serious and fatal if not treated in time,” he said.
Del Río considers that it is necessary to solve "the structural care deficiencies that exist in Lanzarote", since “they are affecting the health and quality of life of many people, adding more suffering to an already difficult situation derived from the pandemic”.
“We are aware of the delays in waiting lists in Traumatology, which were already high before the pandemic, and we are concerned about the risk of late diagnosis in cancer patients, as well as in treatments. It is necessary to finish the works and start up the radiotherapy bunker as soon as possible,” insisted the deputy of Sí Podemos, which governs in the Canary Islands together with the PSOE.
"Although the Minister of Health has insisted that waiting lists and care treatments decreased in 2020, due to causes related to Covid-19, Del Río has stressed that "in Lanzarote there are still delays that could be corrected with the hiring of more specialists, where delays are greater, such as in traumatology, urology, cardiology, dermatology, allergology and ophthalmology, among others”.
“We have to put all possible resources into operation. We know that in Lanzarote we have nursing consultations for monitoring chronic patients who are doing a great job, but only in specialties such as neurology and cardiology. In that line, we think that other specialties should be incorporated so that the waiting lists are not so desperate,” Del Río insisted to the Minister of Health.
The president of the Parliamentary Group Sí Podemos Canarias has also stressed the need to create a Hemodynamics Unit, which is “a pending issue and an unpostponable priority in Lanzarote”. because “it is a measure of equity to guarantee survival, in equal conditions, also for patients from non-capital islands with a population like Lanzarote”.
Molina Orosa Hospital
Regarding the Doctor José Molina Orosa Hospital, Del Río has echoed the demands of the Lanzarote Patients Association, and has reminded the Minister of Health of the demand for a new hospital headquarters, with the category of University Hospital, so that “it is given the status that corresponds to it as the third island of the Canary Islands, has a larger regional budget, a larger portfolio of services and more hospital and ICU beds, a heliport for the transfer of critical inter-hospital patients, and a helicopter with a permanent base in Lanzarote, which would improve the quality of care on the island”.
According to the Parliamentary Group Sí Podemos Canarias, the Minister of Health promised to give them in writing all the health data referring to the waiting lists in Lanzarote and that "he could not answer due to lack of time". "We will send them to the patient associations of Lanzarote, which represent the feeling of the majority of citizens,” said Del Río.
“Mediating between patient associations and the Ministry is also part of the work as a parliamentarian for the island of Lanzarote in our Group Si Podemos Canarias,” he concluded.