Emergency personnel at the Canary Islands University Hospital (HUC), located in Tenerife, organised another demonstration on Wednesday around the facility to highlight that no actions have been taken to rectify the collapse faced by the service.
Staff members have reported that their workload has intensified over recent months, particularly now due to seasonal illnesses, which is adversely impacting both the service and the well-being of professionals.
With the support of nearly two hundred individuals, the regional general secretary of the SATSE Nursing Union, Joel Hernández, clarified that the gathering aims to recognise their efforts, defend the profession, and ensure patient safety in light of a situation pushing them to a “maximum level of endurance.”
Specifically, Hernández indicated that the issue lies in “the lack of drainage and the bottleneck” created within the emergency services of the region’s hospitals. In the case of the HUC, there is a consistent average of about 260 to 270 patients daily, meaning that the number of individuals needing admission is fewer than those being discharged, both for the hospital and referral services.
“The challenges of social and healthcare as well as administrative discharges are significant because they restrict drainage and the availability of hospital beds. This calls for immediate attention, improvements in working conditions, infrastructure, and services, along with an increase in staffing and material resources,” stated the regional secretary of SATSE.
Furthermore, he added, there is a pressing need to tackle this situation with regard to the health of the professionals, as he believes they cannot continue to care for patients under “less than ideal conditions,” since the duration of stay in the service is “well above the established quality standards.”
This demonstration follows others held by healthcare workers over the previous months, wherein they admitted to having engaged in discussions about solutions linked to a project plan aimed at expanding the centre’s capacity.
“These initiatives are intended to address the problem in the medium term, but what is evident is that, in the short term, we must identify solutions to free up stretchers and continue serving the public. Presently, more than six ambulances are blocked due to a shortage of stretchers, which creates issues even for those at home needing medical assistance,” Hernández concluded.
