The Government of the Canary Islands has forced seven specialist doctors from the Doctor José Molina Orosa Hospital to retire, who had an extension granted to work until the age of 70. The doctors fear that some of the positions will not be filled or that if they are, it will be with less experienced doctors, despite the fact that the areas they hold are key.
These doctors have around 40 years of experience, but on March 31 they must leave their jobs. Some are already considering filing an appeal because they consider that this measure violates their right to remain in active service, as was granted to them when they requested it.
Before turning 65, these doctors requested an extension to continue working, given the lack of specialists on the island. At that time, there was a regulation of the Government of the Canary Islands that allowed them to take advantage of it and extend their working life up to 70 years, as long as the doctors were in a condition to work, for which they had to meet certain requirements.
The seven doctors obtained the extension and were working with absolute normality, until on December 28 the Parliament of the Canary Islands approved a Law, which included a provision that "forced those officials who turned 65 to retire and the measure was extended to those officials or statutory personnel who had been granted the extension", according to the head of psychiatry at the Doctor José Molina Hospital, Julio Santiago Obeso, one of those affected by this measure. "Suddenly this law is made, which is manufactured by the public administration itself, and the extension is over", he laments.
"If you don't operate on them, they die"
One of the biggest problems that these mandatory retirements could generate is in the neurosurgery service. In Lanzarote, there is only one neurosurgeon, Dr. Carda, who is in charge of all spinal operations on the island, about "120 a year", which if not would have to be treated in Las Palmas. In addition, he takes care of emergencies that need "immediate treatment", according to explains.
"I have done many craniotomy operations on people who cannot wait for the helicopter and if you don't do it they die. If there is an epidural hematoma at 12:00 a.m. and they don't call me and evacuate it, they die, as has happened many times because the helicopter doesn't arrive on time", he warns.
Dr. Carda has not yet been informed that he must leave the service on March 31, but he knows that he is one of those affected by this government measure. "I have finished operating on patients from 2011 with spinal problems, there are still 78 cases from 2012. I operate every week, it's not that I'm standing still. It's work that never ends", he indicates. In addition, he insists that he solves "urgent things for patients, who may take a year or a year and a half to get an appointment in Las Palmas", he assures.
Thus, he avoids many helicopter transfers to Las Palmas, which costs about 6,000 euros per trip. Dr. Carda does not know if his position will be replaced, although he does not believe that it can "be covered". And it is that in this case, the neurosurgeon position is not created in Lanzarote, but Dr. Carda fulfilled these functions, attached to the traumatology service.
"No young neurosurgeon will come, because they want to operate on the spinal cord, head tumors and that is not done in Lanzarote", he warns, while believing that this government measure is "because we charge more than a resident, but of course, we have 40 years of experience".
"If there were five neurosurgeons, but I'm alone and I'm complying with the clause, which is very clear and says that if there is a greater need, the specialist is automatically renewed", he insists, while assuring that in "Las Palmas and Tenerife there are specialists in the same situation who will be able to continue with their work".
"We feel affected by this grievance"
Another of the affected doctors, Julio Santiago Obeso, considers that "if they have been granted an extension" they have the right to exercise it. "We feel affected by this grievance", says the head of the psychiatry service at the Doctor José Molina Orosa Hospital. His team even submitted a letter requesting his continuity, but "it was useless".
The doctor asked the management from January 2 that if the measure approved by the Government of the Canary Islands became effective, they should communicate it as soon as possible to be able to organize the service and delegate powers. "I received silence in response. No news until last Friday, when they gathered us and gave us the letter that communicated our mandatory retirement on March 31", he explains.
In his specific case and as communicated to him by the hospital management, "he will be replaced by hiring a doctor". "The intention that is economic is to amortize positions, but in my case I will be replaced. It will be cheaper, because I am more expensive, I have seniority and a supplement for being a boss. The measure makes no sense, except in economic terms and I don't understand that. In some cases, they have not taken into account the benefit that we represent for the population of Lanzarote. We are people with experience and workers. None of us were the ones who shirk or something like that", he defends.
For Dr. Julio Santiago Obeso it is "a shame and a waste that people who are very expert leave to put other people who are not". "I don't understand very well why. The health of Lanzarote should take advantage of our experience, unless some of us were sick or unable to develop our work", he insists.
"Many fewer doctors than corresponds"
Dr. Samir, a digestive specialist, is also in the same situation. "Suddenly, they grab us and throw us out", he criticizes. This doctor sees more than 20 patients a day in his office, also open on Saturdays at the Doctor José Molina Orosa Hospital, whom he "managed to remove from the waiting list". "There is a tremendous accumulation of waiting lists and we are four digestive doctors on the whole island, much less than corresponds. One digestive doctor for every 30,000 inhabitants, when in other islands the quota is much higher", he points out.
Samir fears that the Ministry of Health only intends to "save expenses" and will not hire as many doctors as to replace those who must retire. "They will hire young people, who need experience. To acquire experience, they do triple and quadruple the tests and spend much more money than corresponds", he points out. "I hope they replace me, because it is needed", he indicates.
Dr. Samir believes that "politicians have no idea what they are doing, they make decisions without thinking". "The dead don't vote. And older people no longer need it. Politics is going badly, badly. They don't know what they are doing, they haven't talked to the doctors, they have made the decisions before meeting with us", he criticizes.
A retirement that also affects the Nursing School
Another of the doctors affected by this measure is the head of the pediatrics service at the Hospital, Dr. Esquiroz, who defends "the health system and its values" and, precisely for that reason, does not understand this government decision.
A head of section will take charge of this service, but Esquiroz emphasizes that he is an expert in a certain group of patients, in children with disabilities, who "need complex and comprehensive care, socio-health care". "I did this task practically exclusively. Although any doctor can replace another, that they do it with so much experience, I don't think so, not right now", he indicates.
In addition, in this case, the Nursing School of Lanzarote also loses one of its teachers. Dr. Esquiroz teaches two subjects, which he will have to leave "mid-course". Esquiroz knows how difficult it will be for the Ministry to find a new teacher. "I know that there have been attempts with people from the department but that they would have to come from Las Palmas every week to give a class and return", he indicates.
The rest of the doctors whom the Government of the Canary Islands forces to retire are Dr. Vicente Rodríguez Zarallo, head of radiology, Bernardino Güemes, head of the anesthesia service, and Tomás Toledo, one of the doctors with more experience in primary care on the island.