SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE 12 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Minister of Health for the Canary Islands Government, Esther Monzón, refuted claims on Tuesday that the care provided by the HUC Emergency Service is “appalling” and revealed plans for reforms and new initiatives aimed at enhancing efficiency and quality in the upcoming months.
In response to an inquiry, the Socialist Group during a control session of the Parliamentary Plenary urged deputy Miguel Ángel Pérez del Pino to exercise “caution” in his criticisms since patients are being “promptly attended to” regarding urgent and life-threatening conditions.
She noted that healthcare demand over the past weeks has been “variable,” citing that in October, for instance, there were days of considerable activity, such as Monday the 21st, when 275 patients were treated—an amount not reached in the first ten days of November, which had an average of 203 individuals.
The Minister indicated that HUC faces a “structural space shortage,” and to address this, management has devised an improvement plan including 12 initiatives with a budget of two million euros.
Of these initiatives, enhancements have already been executed in rapid care, traumatology, resuscitation, paediatrics, user assistance, admissions, and the entry and exit processes of the service, alongside adaptations of the three observation rooms and the creation of a new short-stay unit.
She also mentioned that several pathways will be reorganised and adjustments will be introduced into the organisational framework to make the response “more decisive.”
Monzón pointed out that this “issue” at HUC has persisted “for many years,” noting that during the ‘Pacto de las Flores’ the government was in power for four years “with virtually no surgical activity, as individuals were unable to undergo operations due to covid, and that time could have been utilised to effectuate these reforms. “They squandered the opportunity, but the Canarian Coalition will not do the same,” she remarked.
PSOE: THE SITUATION IS “OUT OF CONTROL”
Miguel Ángel Pérez del Pino (PSOE) underscored the “overwhelming pressure” on the Emergency Service, which has transitioned from “specific times of the year” to an “out of control” situation over the past year and a half, exacerbated by a shortage of both medical and nursing personnel, resulting in “patients congested in the corridors” and a scarcity of available beds.
He sounded an alarm over transfers taking as long as 28 hours, noting that HUC ranks as one of the hospitals with the highest number of complaints – according to figures from the El Defensor del Paciente association – and that personnel are experiencing “stress, discomfort, and exhaustion.”
Consequently, “what should be an efficient service has turned into a symbol of negligence and poor planning.”
The socialist deputy deemed the situation “alarming,” given that the 2025 regional budget lacks a “specific” allocation to enhance care quality at HUC. “What is your strategy to ameliorate the circumstances, Madam Minister? To redirect patients directly to the agency?” he questioned.
For this reason, he urged the minister to “heed” the healthcare professionals who are protesting outside the facility “and take immediate, decisive actions” because patients “are receiving unsatisfactory care.”
