The National Institute of Social Security (INSS) has increased face-to-face attention in its network of offices by 32.4% until May, according to data from the ministry led by José Luis Escrivá that compare with the first half of 2022.
In detail, 2.51 million citizens have been served in the first five months. More than 1.82 million attended in person. In addition, after the controversy over waiting times or even a market for buying and selling appointments, the Ministry claims to have improved efficiency in management: “Before, one in four did not come and now they all come,” the entity points out to La Vanguard.
Negotiations with Social Security have become a concern for many. Last year the INSS received the highest number of complaints in its historical series, 15,640, 73% more than in 2021. In addition, almost 4 million Spaniards were not attended to. In this context, a black market of previous appointments arose, as denounced by the Economic and Social Council (CES). A price has been put on both appointments and other administrative procedures, so that there are people who have paid to be treated.
Escrivá assured last week that it had decisively intervened in the sale of illegal appointments through various measures, such as establishing a system of blocking IP addresses that came from robots, since 1% of appointments were made by machines. And he affirmed that the identification process has been hardened.
The Social Security workforce is another of the key points in the situation. In the last semester, 3,000 civil servants have been incorporated. At the end of last year, the incorporation of 1,600 temporary workers was approved and recently that of 2,500 aimed especially at improving care. The ministry ensures that the reduction in staff that Social Security has endured in recent years has been due to the replacement rates of the previous Government and a strong aging of the workforce.
The collapse led to the unions CSIF and CC.OO. to call for September 7 what could have become the organization’s first strike in its entire history. Finally, it was called off when an agreement was reached with the ministry, which promised to improve both the workforce and the care services and to create the State Social Security Agency.
Ricardo Sanz, spokesman for the CSIF in Social Security, explains that they are developing the agreement and everything that is planned is being fulfilled. He is positive and affirms that a restructuring of the system is taking place that is alleviating the situation. “We want to carry out everything agreed in June with the exception of the creation of the State Social Security Agency, which will not be possible due to the general elections in Julyâ€, he declared.
For Fernando Jesús Santiago Oller, president of the General Council of the Colleges of Administrative Managers, Escrivá’s statements do not correspond to reality. He affirms that the extension of officials that he had proposed has not been fulfilled and that the black market of previous appointments has not ended. “Now that the system has collapsed, the administration is completely overwhelmed,” he says.
According to Escrivá, any citizen can go to a Social Security office without the need for a prior appointment as long as it is an emergency. “There are help desks where you raise your problem and if the issue has these characteristics, you are immediately attended to,” he said.
