Canarian Public Health Workers Call for Protocol to Support Homeless Patients

The Canarian public health workers’ collective, Asamblea 7Islas, is urging the authorities to establish a comprehensive support protocol for homeless individuals who seek care in hospital emergency departments. This initiative aims to ensure that these individuals receive social follow-up after being discharged from medical care.

The group, which represents 14,000 workers from 30 different healthcare and non-healthcare categories within the Canarian Health Service (SCS), made this request in a statement issued on Friday.

Need for Clear Protocols

In their communication, they highlighted the absence of a clear and uniform regulatory framework for addressing the holistic care of homeless individuals attending hospital emergencies. Many of these individuals arrive in critical health conditions and face significant social vulnerability.

A Last Resort

The organisation emphasised that hospital emergency departments have increasingly become a last resort for those without a place to sleep or access to medical treatment. “We provide care, but afterwards they are sent back to the streets with no follow-up. The tragic consequences of this neglect were evident recently with the deaths of several homeless individuals at the entrances of emergency services in public hospitals in Gran Canaria and Tenerife,” they noted.

They have underscored the urgent need for the implementation of a protocol to assist homeless individuals within hospital emergency services, especially in light of the concerning rise in cases and the lack of coordination between the healthcare system and local social services.