SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, September 22 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Minister of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands, Esther Monzón, presented this Friday in a parliamentary committee the objectives of her department for the next four years, which include an extraordinary plan to reduce surgical waiting lists with operations during weekends and outside of the usual day.
The strategic lines of the Ministry are oriented towards four main objectives: putting the patient at the center of the system, consolidating public employment, betting on energy efficiency and environmental sustainability, and guaranteeing budgetary stability with efficiency in the use of resources.
Regarding the first objective, he defended that without a reduction in waiting lists, an improvement in Primary Care or adequate attention to chronicity, “patients are not at the center of the system and it is our duty to correct that situation.” .
The counselor indicated that the data on the status of waiting lists as of June 30, 2023, recently published, maintaining a sustained upward trend, requires action “as a priority and urgently” and advanced the implementation of the Activa Canarias Plan to address reducing waiting lists.
This plan will include measures such as authorizing special surgical plans on weekends and from Monday to Friday, outside of normal working hours; finalize the prioritization project on the waiting list of processes that cannot be postponed; develop the ‘Give Quality to the Wait’ project, to improve personalized attention to patients who are on the waiting list as well as improve information systems, among other actions.
In addition to reducing waiting lists, the counselor specified the strategic lines focused on the patient in: strengthening Primary Care; expand services on non-capital islands; improve mental health care and addiction prevention and care; enhance attention to chronicity and humanize health care; reinforce Public Health and commit to retaining talent, through biomedical research and ICT.
BET ON PRIMARY CARE
Esther Monzón highlighted the importance of having a more decisive and less tense Primary Care, for which the +AP Strategy will continue to be developed, with the incorporation of improvements that, in coordination with professionals, are considered necessary. Thus, after the review already underway, the Strategy roadmap will be defined for the last quarter and for fiscal year 2024.
In the same line of humanization of the system and proximity, it set the objective of expanding the offer of services in the non-capital islands, which would reduce patient transfers to reference hospitals.
Actions will also be taken to recruit and retain specialist doctors in a context of deficit in the labor market of the National Health System.
MENTAL HEALTH AND CARE FOR CHRONICITY
The counselor highlighted the creation of the new general directorates of Mental Health and Addictions, and of Patients and Chronicity, as a sign of the commitment to the strategic lines in these areas and given the need to adapt services to the care demand of an increasingly population. older and multi-pathological.
Among the planned actions in Mental Health and addiction care include the evaluation of the degree of compliance with the 2019-2023 Mental Health Plan and resources pending implementation, the approval of the Comprehensive Early Care Plan, already in process, and the opening of the pending Early Care units in Lanzarote and Tenerife. It is also planned to continue with the incorporation of Psychology professionals into Primary Care and with the application of the Suicidal Behavior Prevention Program in the Canary Islands.
In this sense, he added that in the coming months the Suicide Prevention Program in the School Environment will be launched, according to a note from the Ministry.
In response to chronicity, which Esther Monzón defined as “the great challenge that advanced health systems are already facing”, the Chronicity Approach Strategy in the Canary Islands will be updated, especially in lines on care of highly complex chronic patients; Work will be done on the definition of a Humanization strategy and intersectoral coordination in the social and health field will be deepened.
In addition, the incorporation of the use of digital tools to address chronicity will be promoted.
REINFORCE PUBLIC HEALTH, RESEARCH AND ICT
Regarding the objective of strengthening public health, an action “that was already necessary before the Covid-19 pandemic”, he referred to commitments such as the progress of work for the next approval of the Childhood Obesity Prevention Plan, the development of a new Respiratory Infection Surveillance system or the approval of the different Environmental Health surveillance programs.
He also highlighted the execution and implementation of the new Canary Islands Vaccination Calendar recently approved and referred to the immediate start in October of the flu vaccination campaign, in parallel with the vaccination against Covid-19, as well as Immunization against syncytial virus with the monoclonal antibody Niservimab to the infant population under one year of age.
In the field of research, he highlighted the commitment to retain talent, with the promotion of biomedical research and ICT, for which the actions of the Canarian Foundation Institute of Health Research of the Canary Islands will be strengthened.
REDUCTION OF TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT AND IMPROVEMENT OF PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT
Regarding improvements in public employment, Esther Monzón recalled the objective set of reducing the temporary employment rate to eight percent, to comply with the provisions of Law 20/2021, of December 28, on urgent measures for the reduction of temporary employment in public employment.
To this end, progress is being made in finalizing the processing of the competition for transfers of Nursing personnel; resolve the current selective processes that must be concluded before December 31, 2024; and the processing of the OPE 2023 in order to include the 7,055 places created this August.
In addition, he expressed the commitment to focus on the constant adaptation of the staff to the personnel needs of the centers.
Progress will also be made in the effective equalization of remuneration to the average of the National Health System (SNS), based on the conclusions of the technical study of remuneration comparison that is being carried out in coordination with the union organizations, at the Sectoral Table.
Esther Monzón highlighted the creation of the new General Directorate of External Relations and Inspection of the SCS, as a commitment to the objective of caring for the health of the system’s workers and improving disability agreements for staff, as well as financing improvements in this ambit.
In terms of energy efficiency and sustainability, he highlighted the commitment to the development of the Health Zer0 net emissions 2030 strategy launched by the SCS, which will allow progress in the objective of achieving zero carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere before of the next decade.
The counselor also defended strategic lines for the economic-financial sustainability of the system, with measures to guarantee budget balance, professionalize contracting and promote centralized contracting, increase efficiency in warehouse logistics circuits, and promote the cost culture of processes and benefits.
