"Although the administration has always said that it had very good intentions, until Friday we did not receive a written proposal", began Blanca Beortegui, member of the Strike Committee, who together with Miguel Ángel Sánchez Rebosa gave an account of some negotiations in which they have not achieved "more than what corresponded to us by law." Sánchez Rebosa has acknowledged that the Committee has not been "fully happy", but they understood that if they continued with the strike "the most affected would be the users of the service."
The Health Management has committed to ensuring that from this Monday, October 1st, there is a second doctor in the hours of 11:00 PM to 9:00 AM, "it remains to be seen, I'm going to think that there will be", Beortegui pointed out, and that by the end of the month the double medical teams have already been established, that is, the four teams that already work in the Valterra emergency room, but with twice the staff as now, and who will work from 5:00 PM to 9:00 AM on weekdays and Sundays and holidays from 9:00 AM to 9:00 AM the next day.
The agreement also includes that the figure of the administrative assistant staff is contemplated, ignored in the decree law of 1967 that governs the operation of out-of-hospital emergencies, but necessary for the service. Therefore, after the meeting between the Health Management and the Strike Committee, the hours and salary of the administrative assistants are equated with their counterparts in hospital emergencies.
Finally, a solution remains to be found for emergencies on the Island, after the Valterra workers denounced the saturation of the service after they had to take on patients from San Bartolomé and Teguise. The administration has committed to convening a Working Group formed by the Personnel Board in which trade unions and administration will participate within a maximum of 15 days. Its purpose is to address the current situation and possible improvements in hospital emergencies, in such a way that before December 31 they will know how out-of-hospital emergencies in Lanzarote will be organized. A "hard and large-scale work as the health system is today", predicted Blanca Beortegui. A system, according to the unionist, "chaotic".
