Going back in time, Fernando Jiménez recalls how he was called to order by the director of Primary Care of Lanzarote, Tomás Moral. "He asked me to submit my resignation." The reason for this request, according to the now former Director of Health of Teguise, was the statements he made on August 10 before the microphones of the program "Buenos días Lanzarote" on Radio Lanzarote, in which he explained that from the following day, August 11, the emergency service of Teguise was suspended during the weekends, by order of the Primary Care Directorate of the Island, and revealed the discomfort of the medical team due to this decision.
The suspension of the continuous care service in Teguise, except for injectables and cures in the morning of Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., by a nurse and an administrative assistant, meant that patients in the area had to move to Arrecife, to the Valterra Health Center, for any emergency situation.
A month has passed since the SCS made this decision, as explained by the head of Health on the Island, Juan Manuel Sosa, due to the lack of doctors. But the problems have not been solved because now the workers of the Valterra Emergency Service and the unions, announce that from October 3, they will go on indefinite strike because they are "tired of not being listened to" they say, after repeatedly complaining that their shifts and schedules are outside the current regulations and among other problems, their work has increased with the arrival of patients from the basic Health area of Teguise, approximately 21,000 people according to the unions, who now have to be attended to in Valterra.
The dismissal
La Voz de Lanzarote published on August 9 the decision of the Primary Care Directorate, before it was made public by the Canary Health Service and after verifying the information with the staff of the Teguise Health Center, it was Fernando Jiménez who informed the next day, on Radio Lanzarote, of the suspension of emergencies.
Information that did not sit well with the Health Management on the Island. "They told me that the only one who could speak to the media was Juan Manuel Sosa and now I see that I have been fired for reporting on the radio about the suspension of emergencies a day before it started."
Fernando Jiménez also regretted that the changes in continuous care in the Teguise area had not been consulted neither with the Area Health Council nor with the medical team, and describes as "Kafkaesque" that they did not send an informative note to the Teguise City Council until three days after the measure was launched, a note "that the Consistory did not receive until August 20", says Francisco Delgado, Councilor for Health, who has already contacted the Councilor for Social Affairs of the Cabildo, Joaquín Caraballo, in order to meet at the Island Health Board to discuss the dismissal of Fernando María Jiménez. The Councilor for Health explained his "surprise at the dismissal after so many years doing a very good job".
Claims
The end, although provisional according to the SCS, of continuous care in Teguise has had its consequences according to Fernando Jiménez. In the month that has passed since the residents of the area have to go down to Valterra to be assisted in an emergency, 10 user complaints have been registered, when "previously we had an average of between 15 or 20 complaints per year", says the former area director.
Most of the complaints in the last month have to do with the obligation to have to go down to Arrecife and with the lack of a doctor on Saturdays and Sundays in the morning. And it is that the doctors understand that the minimum team of health professionals must be formed by a doctor and a nurse, in addition to an administrative assistant.
Jiménez recognizes that the continuous care service in his area does not have much work during the week, but on weekends things change: "Saturdays and Sundays we see an average of 40 people, both in the morning at the center and in the afternoon through the phone".
Fernando María Jiménez recognizes feeling "very demoralized" and has no intention of initiating measures against the Health officials who have dismissed him, but assures that he leaves "proudly dismissed" and announces that "I will continue to be belligerent always within respect, I am going to fight for the community and for the medical team".