The CC OO union confirmed this Tuesday that the increase in admissions caused by respiratory viruses has saturated the Rafael Méndez de Lorca hospital, where the lack of beds forced the transfer of patients to the Virgen del Alcázar subsidized hospital.
According to the union, 13 patients have already been transferred to that private center, where they are cared for by the staff of the Rafael Méndez hospital during the day and at night by professionals from the Virgen del Alcázar.
The Murcian Health Service would have negotiated the reservation of twenty beds in that center to address the lack of beds in the public hospital, but reluctance has been detected on the part of some patients to be admitted to the Virgen del Alcázar because “they are aware of the lack of resources and professionals of this.
According to the union, this data is revealing to understand the deficiencies of the agreement with private hospitals, which has expired for more than 11 years. He assured that there is a lack of personnel and that the “conditions leave much to be desired.” At the moment there are 24 patients pending admission to the Emergency Room of the Rafael Méndez hospital and the ICU is at 80% occupancy.
Saturation, according to CC OO, leads to a decrease in surgical activity and causes an increase in surgical waiting lists in Area III, which is already around 3,000 people pending surgery, according to data from the Murcian Health Service.
In the opinion of CC OO, the Rafael Méndez hospital has become too small for a few years. The Federation of Health and Socio-Sanitary Sectors of this union is aware that an expansion is planned that will entail the increase of some 80 beds and requests that it be expedited urgently.
Regarding the rest of the hospitals in the Region, in the Virgen de la Arrixaca there are 75 patients pending admission and in the Santa Lucía hospital, 48. To support these health centers, the Los Arcos hospital will assume the admission of some of these patients.
CC OO also demands more reinforcement of personnel to assume the increase in the workload caused, which is why it urges the regional government to make a greater financial investment in hiring professionals.
The PSOE demands a second hospital
The PSOE echoed the complaint of the CCOO union and assured that the saturation of the Emergency services at the Rafael Méndez is not punctual but “is repeated recurrently throughout the year” due to the lack of beds that “we have suffered since “decades ago” in the hospital.
Councilor José Ángel Ponce said that this situation “reinforces the idea that Lorca needs, because it corresponds to us by population, a second hospital.” He added that “this serious problem must be faced with structural and definitive measures and not with more patches, more handouts, more additions or more referrals to private healthcare.”
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