SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE Jan. 19 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Canarian Doctors’ Union (Cesm) has voiced its dissatisfaction with the proposed measures in the Framework Statute of the Ministry of Health, which suggests reducing on-call hours from 24 to 17. This suggestion is deemed “impractical” and represents a “pipe dream,” considering the insufficient number of specialists available to provide care in areas with limited coverage, such as regional hospitals on the mainland and those on non-capital islands in the Canary Islands.
“What the minister is suggesting is truly unattainable. Adjustments must be made in accordance with the healthcare requirements of each province and each regional hospital, regardless of its location,” stated Levy Cabrera, the secretary of the union in the Canary Islands, in remarks to Europa Press.
Cabrera elaborates that while this initiative may appear “commendable” initially, the realities of institutions like the Hospital de La Paz or Gregorio Marañón in Madrid are not comparable to those of regional hospitals located on the mainland or those on the capital islands in the Canary Islands, where “adequate specialists” are lacking. Furthermore, the Canarian Doctors’ Union advocates for “legislation that is attuned to the locations and healthcare necessities” that exist.
In summary, they advocate for a specific Framework Statute for specialist medical personnel because, as Levy Cabrera notes, the “peculiarities and needs” of this group are “immense,” and general measures cannot suffice for all statutory staff, as highlighted in the Ministry’s draft, which is “somewhat restrictive” concerning the current challenges faced by medical specialists and includes propositions such as the MIRs serving five years “exclusively in the public sector.”
Indeed, he takes the opportunity to depict the current situation of this group of doctors on the islands, marked by a “severe” shortage of specialists in various services, which has now placed them “on the brink” of suspending consultations. This situation is exacerbated by the reductions in working hours that physicians utilise in order to balance family and work life.
“There are no psychiatrists, neurologists, radiologists, traumatologists, urologists, or anatopathologists…”, listed the president of the Canarian Doctors’ Union, Levy Cabrera, who illustrated the situation by noting that in a team of 20, six are benefitting from reduced hours: “for every two reducing hours, a full-time position could be filled, but there are no (specialists).”
THE UNION READIES ITS RESPONSES TO THE DRAFT
The Doctors’ Union is currently formulating its response to this draft from the Ministry of Health, a document in which it will contest various measures put forward by the minister, Mónica García, including demands for exclusivity in public healthcare from service heads and managers. Conversely, the union collective is requesting regular annual stabilisation processes and improved remuneration to enhance “retention” within the public system.
“(This draft) does not fulfil our expectations of this minister, who is assumed to be aware of the realities of care in hospitals. We believed she would propose measures for doctors who are not yet stabilised,” lamented Cabrera, who has leveraged this opportunity to underscore the situation in the Canary Islands, “where only one job offer has been made this century, and where 80% of employment is temporary.”
He noted that this prompts “many specialists to contemplate leaving the Canarian Health Service, not just for other autonomous communities with superior job offerings, but for neighbouring countries that provide better conditions and remuneration.”
“Regarding the suggestion to restrict service heads from engaging in private practice, there may be rationales behind it. Implement monitoring and auditing measures so that if any wrongdoing is suspected, it can be addressed accordingly,” the secretary of the Cesm expressed, asserting that in his view, “there ought to be no incompatibility” on this front since “compatibility exists.”
APPEALS TO THE MINISTRY
In addition to addressing the measures outlined by Minister García, the union will also communicate its requests, such as the establishment of “adequate planning” for specialist positions available in Spain, especially in Primary Care, where, for instance, doctors without a specialty are being employed as family practitioners—a scenario that, he claims, is becoming “more prevalent” and ultimately affects the population.
Thus, they urge the Union to “significantly increase the number of positions in the coming years” so that by the decade spanning 2030 to 2040 there is sufficient staffing, particularly in Family Medicine and Pediatrics, “to avoid hiring general physicians to fill specialist roles when it is the Government of Spain that has mandated the necessity of being a specialist to work within the National Health System.”
This predicament, in certain instances, reflects the circumstances of specialists trained abroad who are “waiting” to validate their qualifications in Spain. Cabrera advises that this process can sometimes take between five and six years, resulting in health professionals being employed as hospital specialists without their qualifications being recognised in the country.
Additionally, they emphasise that remuneration for the specialist doctor should adequately reflect all the training that has been undertaken, as the pay and job category of the worker “must align with someone who has invested at least 10, 11, or 12 years to qualify for their position.”
