Over 120 doctors and resident trainees at the University Hospital of the Canary Islands (HUC), located in Tenerife, representing 14 out of the 18 departments called upon to assist with emergency management, have expressed their disapproval of management decisions and have reported a “lack of planning and support within the service, which is severely impacting the quality of care, patient safety, and the working conditions of the professionals”.
They indicate in a joint statement that the emergency shifts are staffed with an “insufficient” number of emergency physicians, at times comprising just one or two doctors in situations that require a minimum of five.
“This overload has resulted in extreme fatigue and a continual exit of physicians to other more appealing opportunities offering a more favourable work environment,” they caution.
Resident doctors also raise concerns about the “adverse effects” on their training, as the “limited supervision” resulting from the staffing overload compels them to take on responsibilities that “exceed” their educational phase, jeopardising both their learning and patient safety.
The resort to “special night plans,” in which doctors from various specialties are requested to cover shifts in the emergency department, has been another point of contention they highlight.
Although presented as voluntary, many professionals feel “pressured” to accept these shifts, fearing potential repercussions on their working conditions should they decline.
In their view, “these ad hoc solutions fail to tackle the core issue and merely exacerbate the precariousness of healthcare within the hospital.”
In light of this crisis, the doctors and residents of the HUC are demanding immediate reinforcement of the emergency staff to ensure safe and quality care, the alleviation of the workload on resident doctors and specialists, compliance with training standards with proper supervision, a review of shifts, the elimination of pressures on specialists to cover emergency night shifts, and urgent measures to enhance hospital management and prevent service collapse.
The signatories of this document warn that the situation at the HUC “is untenable and necessitates immediate remedies” and call upon the Canary Islands health service to respond in a “prompt” manner to avert further deterioration of healthcare and the infringement of labour and training rights.
