In a meeting held this Tuesday, María del Carmen de León, the general director of Relations with the Administration of Justice, announced the reinforcement of the staff at the Institute of Legal Medicine (IML) in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The reinforcement includes the hiring of two new autopsy assistants and the addition of a forensic doctor in the IML for the judicial district of Arona, meeting a demand that has existed for over a year.
“The objective is to continue advancing in the modification of the List of Job Positions (RPT) to increase the workforce.” The staff at IML primarily consists of psychologists, social workers, and autopsy assistants, as stated by the Government of the Canary Islands.
The Ministry of the Presidency, Public Administration, Justice and Security of the Government of the Canary Islands is actively working on modifying the RPT to enhance the operations of both IMLs in the Canary Islands. Additionally, efforts are being made to expand material resources and establish a new headquarters for the IML in Santa Cruz de Tenerife province.
The General Directorate has significantly increased the budget for consumables by 300%, from €15,000 to €50,000 for each IML. It is also announced that nearly four million Euros from European funds within the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (MRR) will be invested to enhance management processes and provide technical resources.
The staff of the Legal Medicine Institutes have been on an indefinite strike since February 21 to demand the dismissal of Jesús Vega, the director of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Legal Medicine Institute. According to Intersindical Canaria, Vega is held responsible for many of the issues faced by the Forensic Medicine Service.
In March, the staff reported to the Labor Inspection and Ministry of Health regarding the deterioration of the institute’s facilities.
The lack of formaldehyde for autopsies during a weekend in February highlighted one of the consequences of the ongoing conflict at the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Legal Medicine Institute.
Additionally, the staff raised concerns about the absence of a protocol for determining the age of unaccompanied minors arriving in the Canary Islands through perilous maritime routes. They criticized the non-functional orthopantomograph device for age certification tests and referred the issue to the Common Deputy.
