The 64 chief doctors of service and unit coordinators of the University Hospital of La Paz are signing a letter this week, which was written last week, to request the Government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso to consolidate the interim positions before or during the process of allocation of the places that were approved in the 2022 opposition.
The crux of the matter is that before these positions are awarded, those professionals who have been working at the La Paz Hospital for many years, but on an interim basis, should be consolidated in their positions. They are experts in certain critical units of the hospital, but on the contrary they do not have their place awarded, but rather continue to chain contracts. The aim is for them to be the first to apply for a position so that they remain in their positions.
The letter, which will be sent in the coming days to the Minister of Health, Fátima Matute, – and to which La Vanguardia has had access – highlights that “the election of positions resulting from this competition can lead to the disintegration of consolidated medical teams “. To which he adds: “Many of our professionals, with years of temporary service, have acquired crucial specializations for the operation of delicate care units, such as the 34 centers, services and reference units of the national Health system (CSUR) and the subspecialties of pediatrics, in addition to being part of critical teams such as the stroke code. These CSUR units are those that care for patients from other autonomous communities, who need to be operated on in large hospitals due to the severity of their illness. The University Hospital of La Paz and the Hebron Valley in Barcelona are the two in Spain that have the most units of this type.
In the opinion of the heads of service, “this destructuring could paralyze specialized units, directly affecting patients who depend on a high level of medical specialization and damaging the reputation of our centers.”
A head of service, who prefers to remain anonymous, explains that there may be “a covert transfer competition”, since “doctors from small hospitals in Madrid or outside may ask for a position in La Paz and displace those who have been there for many years.” without consolidating their place, despite being super specialized in certain activities.
With this reality, veteran professionals demand that the Ayuso Government, specifically the Ministry of Health, take into account “all the factors mentioned to avoid negative consequences.” Hence, they demand that the Ministry of Health “take the necessary measures to mitigate any adverse impact, such as the implementation of service commissions or the creation of new positions for those interim workers whose relocation reduces the quality of care.”
We must not forget that the pediatric ICU of this Madrid hospital was closed for almost a month this year due to a problem with the head of the service. The rest of his fellow doctors resigned due to the impossibility of working with him. And despite it being an issue that was in court, the pediatric ICU stopped being operational for almost 30 days, with the consequent delay of some interventions. And the relocation of patients, nurses, assistants and administrators to other units.
Likewise, the service heads ask the Madrid Government to explain “how situations that may impact our services will be resolved.” This last request is made to be able to organize “the different services in the hospital.”
