The dissolution of the Cortes as a result of the call for general elections has left dozens of pending legislative initiatives in the freezer. Among them, the reform of the Patronage Law, approved in Congress on April 26 and pending approval in the Senate in a process scheduled for May 31. Numerous voices demand that the Government immediately process this regulation through a decree-law, as it is a long-awaited reform for the maintenance and viability of organizations that work for the well-being of citizens.
Among these voices is that of the distinguished surgeon Antonio de Lacy, former head of the Gastrointestinal Surgery service at Hospital Clínic de Barcelona and current head of the Lacy Surgical Institute. He also calls this doctor for the stoppage of other projects related to health, such as the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Law (ALS), a regulation that has the objective of guaranteeing the right to a dignified life of people who suffer from ALS. “Patients are dying, and they die in a terrible way, but there are few, about 4,000 or 5,000 in Spain and with few votes, with which we see that they have been left forgotten when they could find recognition from society for the first time. Putting a piece of candy in the mouth of someone who has nothing and who is getting worse every day seems cruel to me, more than a lack of humanity, ”he reproaches.
In the same way, De Lacy abhors the stagnation of the Mental Health Law, which emphasizes both the assistance dimension and the promotional aspect to combat the effects of discriminatory behaviors derived from social stigma that affect people with mental health problems and that hinder their social inclusion and quality of life.
Another project that has remained fallow is the Law on the Right to be Forgotten Oncology, “a fundamental framework”, according to De Lacy: “Many patients are cured, 5 or 10 years have passed and they do not receive health insurance or mortgages. They are treated with discrimination. It surprises me, and again we are looking at the number of voters. It is good that we are so inclusive that we include everything, but we do not include something that has nothing to do with race, sex or origin, but is simply a human being who has had cancer and is now cured”.
The Balearic surgeon expresses special interest in getting rid of the patronage law, given his experience with sponsorship at the Hospital Clínic. In 2017, the center launched a pioneering prehabilitation program in Spain (optimizing the physical condition of the patient who is going to face surgery) with which the admission of patients operated on in hospitals has been reduced by more than 50%. the ICU, thus reducing complications, mortality or healthcare costs. Through De Lacy’s efforts, tennis player Rafa Nadal equipped the pre-qualification room with Technogym equipment – ??the official technical supplier of his academy – with state-of-the-art technology.
In 2014, the late chemist, businessman, philanthropist and friend of De Lacy Pere Mir financed, at the insistence of the surgeon, the acquisition for the Clínic of the first Da Vinci surgical robot in Spain and one of the first in Europe. In 2004 – “after many conversations and having eaten many croquettes at Esther Koplowitz’s house in Madrid”, recalls the doctor – what was the most important patronage of scientific research in Spain was forged, and one of the most highlights of Europe. The Esther Koplowitz Foundation committed a donation of 15 million euros for the construction of a Clínic research center. “We said that it would be logical for FCC – the patron’s company – to build it. She got angry and said no kidding, that she had to go to the contest and she had to do it like everything else, which shows the kind of person she is ”.
De Lacy highlights the fruits of public-private collaboration to vindicate the Patronage Law as a pillar of the future health system that he is projecting. “The time has come to create the new healthcare system for the next 50 years, using new technologies,” she explains. The formula preserves “the wonderful thing that Spain has, which is to treat everyone equally, whether you are the richest or if you have arrived in a boat.” And it adds inclusivity through the concept of hospital we deserve, “the one that we, the patients, not the doctors, deserve.” “In this system you unite public and private and you have your patronage law by which people can deduct their contributions from taxes and will give more.”
The new hospital, according to De Lazy, will be based on AI: “For example, the diagnostic method can be immediate, in seconds, and not have to wait days or weeks. And in prevention, probably genetics will help us a lot. If we have a prevention of a possible cancer, diabetes or any of the hereditary diseases, this will not be an expense, but an investment because we will have savings”.
