Consultations in Spanish hospital emergencies have increased by 10% this summer compared to the same period of the previous year, due to cases of covid and heat that have especially affected people with previous pathologies with greater ease to decompensate. These are data provided by the Spanish Society of Emergency and Emergency Medicine (Semes).
However, in Catalonia, the number of hospital emergencies for both causes is “within expected levels”, according to the Department of Health. Covid transmission fluctuates, but there is no increase in acute respiratory infections, which have decreased slightly in the last week and continue at low transmission levels. However, there are 489 admitted to Catalan hospitals infected with the virus (and 12 in the emergency room), 36 more than the previous week. 82% are over 60 years old.
The vice president of Semes, Pascual Piñera, has affirmed that between July 15 and August 15 there has been greater assistance to emergencies in hospitals due to covid in Spain, although “not with many admissions”.
This is due, in part, to the situation of primary care, which suffers from a lack of personnel and resources, which leads citizens to overload hospital emergencies, which are easily accessible and open 24 hours a day. The patients who are admitted are over 75 years old and have histories of chronic and multipathological diseases, which makes them more vulnerable to covid and heat.
The greater pressure on care in hospitals is the subject of concern on the part of the Federation of Associations for the Defense of Public Health (FADSP), which has warned that in the coming years heat waves will be more frequent and more intense.
The federation denounces the closure of hospital beds throughout Spain, which, according to the organization’s calculations, is led by the Community of Madrid, with almost 2,500 fewer beds in public hospitals during July and August. Precisely in Madrid, 31 doctors from the La Paz University Hospital have filed a complaint this week for the “collapse” in the emergency services. According to the Red Workers union, the hospital has dozens of patients about to be admitted while keeping 435 beds closed.
