“It is not acceptable. The extra money that has been added to reduce the agency’s waiting lists and guarantee the right that these people have recognized by law by the State, through the general budgets (PGE), has been deducted from the regional accounts. , which clearly prevents us from accelerating the end of these shameful waiting lists,” says the head of the State Association of Directors and Managers of Social Services, José Ramón Ramírez.
Last year, 45,360 people died on the agency’s waiting lists, one every twelve minutes, while the contribution to the autonomous communities’ dependency was reduced by 98 million euros, according to a new report just published by this entity.
Nine regional governments cashed in in 2022 with the increase in state budgets for dependency, alleviating problems in the regional coffers instead of increasing care for dependent people.
These nine communities that have decreased spending on care for people in a situation of dependency in 2022 compared to 2021 are: Catalonia, which has reduced investment by 57.3 million euros; Cantabria (8.7 million less); Asturias (10.8 million); the Valencian Community (40.6 million); Andalusia (51.6 million); Extremadura (11 million); Madrid (15 million); Castilla y León (7.4 million), and Murcia (one million).
“Especially bloody are the cuts that have occurred in Catalonia, a community that, once again, occupied the last position on the Dependency Observatory Rating Scale,” says Ramírez. 27% of people entitled to assistance in Catalonia were waiting to receive the service or be evaluated.
According to this work, the communities with the greatest “dependency limbo”, that is, people pending to receive benefits, are Catalonia (27.1%), La Rioja (18.9%) and the Basque Country (17.5% ).
This is the second year that the Government carries out the shock plan on dependency to reduce the long waiting lists that exist to receive aid recognized by law and which translates into an increase in funds for this purpose in the general budgets. of the State.
“But the bureaucracy and incompetence of some regional governments do not allow us to achieve the objective of reducing the waiting list, increasing benefits and services or even executing the budget increase,” says the aforementioned entity.
The first year there were ten communities that made money with the increase in the budget made by the General State Administration. Catalonia was not in that group. On this occasion, yes.
