The Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands, through the General Directorate of Care Programs of the Canary Health Service, joins the commemoration of the Day of Early Care and reports the launch of two new Early Care units in Gran Canaria and Tenerife. In this way, both islands already have two units each to attend to the population between 0 and 6 years of age that needs these resources.
The National Day of Early Intervention, which is commemorated today, is a day dedicated to making visible and highlighting the importance of providing responses according to the needs and characteristics of girls and boys between zero and six years old who have developmental disorders. or risk of suffering from it, as well as their families and their environment.
The aforementioned care modality receives an important boost with the approval of Law 12/2019, of April 25, which regulates Early Care in the Canary Islands and with the joint involvement of the Ministries of Health, Education, Universities, Culture and Sports and Social Rights, Equality, Diversity and Youth of the Government of the Canary Islands, which are directly related to its development.
The goal, 11 centers
As of 2020, Early Attention Units (UAT) have been put into operation on the various islands, both in the capital and outside the capital. It should be remembered that the Canary Islands Comprehensive Early Care Plan 2019-2023 contemplates the opening of a total of 11 Early Care units, as explained by the autonomous Executive yesterday. Currently, there are two active resources of this type in Tenerife, as many in Gran Canaria, one in Fuerteventura and another in La Palma. It is expected that in the second half of this year the facilities planned for La Gomera, Lanzarote and El Hierro will start their activity. And throughout 2023 the opening of the third attention units of Gran Canaria and Tenerife is contemplated.
During the past year, the Ministry of Health treated a total of 557 boys and girls in the Early Care units, while in the first quarter of 2022 the patients treated were 258.
Intervention
The creation of these endowments constitutes the materialization of the intervention with minors between zero and six years of age who present developmental disorders or are at risk of suffering from it.
In addition, in recent years various actions have been implemented aimed at the complementarity of interventions, guaranteeing a single model of action. One of them is the publication of the Referral and Internal Functioning Protocol of the Early Intervention Unit agreed upon by the three departments already mentioned.
Bearing in mind that all the services from which Early Intervention is addressed have the characteristic of complementarity, the Regional Executive states in a note that, from its health, educational and social spheres, it intends to develop collaborative work, with actions coordinated to facilitate networking, in order to optimize available resources and offer minors and their families quality care, specialized and as close to their home.
The service does not reach 1% of the minors who need it in the Archipelago
The Platform for Early Attention and the Rights of Children with Functional Diversity (Patdi) points out that in the Canary Islands coverage does not reach 1% of the population that requires it. According to this group, it is estimated that at least one in ten children under the age of six needs this benefit; that supposes around 255,000 minors in all of Spain and in the case of the Canary Islands they are around 9,000, based on the estimates of said organization. Patdi points out that the different autonomous communities respond to some 100,000 children.
On June 16, 2000, the White Paper on said provision was presented in Madrid, which is considered a milestone in the history of services for children in the country. For the Platform, there is a great difference between autonomies when it comes to regulating this service, its administrative organization or the available resources, among other things, which is why situations of inequality are generated.
The group indicates that “really early and continuous access to comprehensive quality care depends on the region where the child resides or the economic capacity of their parents.” The members of Patdi point out that, despite the progress made in the last year, “there is still a long way to go so that early care becomes a reality that covers the entire population that needs it and so that the Law is fully complied with.” ».
In the opinion of the Platform for Early Care and the Rights of Children with Functional Diversity, in all early care units, despite the efforts of the staff, “there are long waiting lists, with a shortage of material and human resources to to be able to meet the existing demand, which means that care is prioritized for children under three years of age, with which children between three and six years of age are excluded in almost all units.
The aforementioned group states that in all the facilities the minimum staffing is not met, since the psychomotrician is missing and, in some cases, the clinical psychologist. The Platform is still waiting for the approval of the Comprehensive Plan, which, according to the legislation, had to be presented in November 2020, as well as the necessary coordination between the ministries involved in the care of minors, since there is still a lack of knowledge by many pediatricians and teachers of the existence of Early Care.
On April 26, the organization held a meeting with the President of the Canary Islands Government, Ángel Víctor Torres; the Minister of Health, Blas Trujillo, and the Ministers of Social Policies and Education, Noemí Santana and Manuela de Armas, respectively. In the event of non-compliance with article 11, (referral and follow-up in the Early Care Units), these authorities undertook to comply with the protocol established by the rule, which establishes that it will be the Primary Care pediatricians or the Specialized Pediatric Services who refer directly to the units, which is only done in La Palma and Fuerteventura, according to Patdi.”In said meeting we showed our disagreement that the UATs, in the organization chart of the Ministry of Health, depend on Mental Health, urging the President of the Government for the Minister of Health to designate a person from his area so that he can exclusively dedicate his time to the coordination between the three ministries and to the improvement of the units, “says the group. Patdi-Canarias suggested that this position be occupied by a person who is already part of the Technical Commission.
And, given the breach of article 12, (the composition and functions of the UAT), the group raised the possibility of making a specific call to cover the places by decree, open call and not linked to the Management of the reference hospitals. The head of Social Policies promised to make a draft call to submit it for the consideration of the Presidency, says Patdi.
Regarding the non-compliance with article 16, regarding the Technical Commission for Early Attention, which among its functions is to propose the approval of the Comprehensive Plan to the Ministry of Health, a commitment was made that said project includes the financial sheet necessary to create the Public Network that families and professionals demand.
