The Association of Patients and Users of Health and Social Healthcare (APUSAS) has denounced the "state of imbalance" and "unfavorable treatment" that exists in Lanzarote with respect to other islands in terms of the implementation of the quality and existing emergency services.
The association has insisted on the need for the north of Lanzarote to have a health center that includes 24-hour emergency care, even making formal requests to locate it in the town of Mala, in Haría.
However, the president of APUSAS, Fidel Ascensión, has recalled that these requests "have only received unfavorable reports" from the Directorate and Management of Primary Care of Lanzarote, because they consider "that it is not profitable".
Comparative Grievance with Fuerteventura
This fact contrasts with the reality on the neighboring island of Fuerteventura, where last July the launch of a Regional Emergency Plan was confirmed to provide all health centers in Fuerteventura with emergencies seven days a week, 24 hours a day.
These plans are aimed at increasing the quantity and quality of services for all users, with the implementation of X-ray, ultrasound and analytical services.
In contrast, Lanzarote only has three centers with emergency service throughout the day (Playa Blanca, Tías and Valterra) and one with 12-hour care.
"We believe that this difference in criteria has nothing to do with the allocation of resources but, rather, with the will and management capacity to manage a health system under the criteria of offering the best care to all citizens," the association stated.
The argument of the "lack of profitability", in the opinion of those affected, is not sustainable if the data of users in the emergency services of other municipalities in the province of Las Palmas are compared: on the island of Gran Canaria there are several health centers that in 2015 (the last one for which data is available) did not serve even twenty patients a day. However, at that time, Titerroy served more than 150 people a day, becoming the one that sustained the most emergencies in the Canary Islands.
In 2023 this figure has doubled, among other things, due to the lack of emergency services in more places on the island, which is aggravated by having more than 47,000 health cards.
"Profitability cannot be a criterion for not improving healthcare"
APUSAS argues that these figures demonstrate that Lanzarote "deserves better management and decision-making" to improve the quality of care for users of emergency services, starting by turning Titerroy into a 24-hour emergency center seven days a week and the Mala Health Center into a place where these services can be provided.
"Profitability cannot be a criterion for not improving healthcare in Lanzarote, when we see that in other places emergency services are maintained with many fewer users," concludes Ascensión.
