The tsunami unleashed by the indefinite strike of Madrid Primary Care doctors and paediatricians has overlapped the another great health conflict that, precisely, gave rise to the convulsion that the community is experiencing: the situation of the extra-hospital emergency centers which, denounce unions and toilets, “continues to be a complete disaster and chaos” Until 70% of these devices are still without a doctor. While the Ministry of Health indicates progress is being made in model development. This Monday the 12th begins a “temporary mobility process” for the professionals of these centers, a matter that will be addressed on Tuesday the 13th in an extraordinary meeting of the Health Sector Boardin which the unions CCOO., UGT, CSIT Unión Profesional, SATSE and AMYTS are represented.
On November 17, the strike committee of doctors affected by the reorganization of extra-hospital emergencies in the Community of Madrid and the Ministry of Health reached an agreement that allowed the call off the strike of physicians that started on the 7th of the same month after months of mobilizations and successive model changes. Just a few days later, the same organizing union, AMYTS, called their colleagues of health centers to a strike that is still maintained today and, moreover, seems to have no sign of a solution. At least for now.
The Primary doctors and pediatricians strike has overlapped the situation in extra-hospital emergency centers
It is precisely this strike of primary school doctors and paediatricians that has now covered up the situation in the extra-hospital emergency centers. Despite the agreement reached to call off the strike of the physicians in these devices, the situation, he explains to The Newspaper of Spain, from the Prensa Ibérica group, Mariano Martín- Teachergeneral secretary CCOO Health Madrid, it has only gotten worse.
The agreement signed between AMYTS and the Ministry established the number of doctors in 49 out-of-hospital emergency centers (39 from the former Rural Care Services -SAR- and ten Rural Care Emergency Services -SUAP) and collected the claim from the medical union for continuing care centers to include in their definition emergency departments Y non-delayable continuity of medical care. Thus, within the 39 old SARs, eleven points have an assigned staff of four doctors, 27 of five physicians, and there are two doctors in another device. In the case of the ten SUAPs, they would have a staff of four doctors and weekend reinforcements or a staff of five doctors without reinforcement.
Temporary mobility of professionals
In addition, it was agreed to negotiate a process of provisional assignment until the implementation of the definitive voluntary secondment of the professionals. Mariano Martín- Maestro details that the “temporary mobility process” of the professionals will start this Monday, December 12, because there is already a definitive list. “New forms will be launched, with conferences and assistance to the different emergency centers. Since not all of them have a doctor, what will be done is temporarily move professionals that they were in a certain center and that, as they are the least old, they are going to be displaced to other centers “due to the agreement with AMYTS”, recounts the general secretary of CCOO Sanidad Madrid.
Some of these professionals, he warns, they are very upset with the situation. An anger that is transferred to this newspaper from the SAR Platform, which not only considers that “rural health care is becoming precarious”, but also that these displacements do not allow them to have a minimum of stability and, not even, plan your Christmas vacation.
Of all these issues, explains Martín-Maestro, it will be spoken again on Tuesday 13 December at an extraordinary meeting of the Health Sector Table. “There we will try to reach an agreement as soon as possible so that they are not from the mint to the mecca every day,” she adds. He indicates that the payroll changes that will be effective from Monday are by virtue of the agreements that were reached with AMYTS and that there are still up to 70% of out-of-hospital emergency centers without a doctor.
“There are centers with two, another three, another four…. A part is only open on weekends and holidays with nursing and warders and another part, from Monday to Sunday, only with nurses and warders. That is why we said that they should be I had to go through a process definitive reordering of these professionals to the work centers. They are working very badly”, Martín-Maestro abounds. He offers data from Sunday, December 4: 77% of the centers did not have a doctor, 10% did not have nurses and 10% lacked guards.
The origin of the conflict
Extra-hospital emergencies have been a source of permanent conflict between the Ministry and the union organizations, neighborhood associations and opposition after the closure of the SUAP with the outbreak of the pandemic. The regional government had acquired the commitment to reactivate out-of-hospital emergency care during nights and weekends unifying the nomenclature of all centers.
The new out-of-hospital emergencies in Madrid They opened on October 27: 80 health centers that would be operational 24 hours a day. But that reopening was a huge mess. Since then, not only has that model been changed several times, but that patient complaints have been constant. The unions with a presence in the Sectoral Board of Health have defended starting from scratch in the negotiation of the model with the Ministry of Health asking a gradual reopening of the devices.
Strike in Primary Care
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On the other hand, regarding the Primary Care strike, the data provided to The newspaper of Espala, from the Prensa Ibérica group, by the Ministry of Health, are that, on the morning of Friday the 9th, the follow-up has been 9.70%; on Wednesday, in the morning shift it was 9.35% and on Monday, 11.55%. From the AMYTS union, the caller of the strike, they tell this newspaper that it is a peculiar week, because many physicians already had permissions granted.In addition, they affirm that the Ministry includes as professionals who do not follow a strike those who had previously granted permits or are on minimum services. The union says that, based on what their colleagues tell them, they want to continue with indefinite unemployment every day. “People are still very strong,” they say from AMYTS.
The Ministry, for its part, insists on the message that it has been launching these days: At the moment there is no scheduled meeting date of the strike committee. “We continue with our hand outstretched to advance in the organization of agendas. There is rapprochement, pending technical development, regarding the management of the agenda and organization of workloads. But the strike committee continues to demand a linear increase of 470 euros only for physicians Primary and another linear increase for the afternoon shift. Which is unfeasible”, they settle.