Patients pass until two or three nights sleeping on mats in the hallways, without pillows and in precarious conditions. health personnel, overwhelmed by lack of human resourcesmust take on several tasks simultaneously, with contracts that do not guarantee days of rest between shifts and facing a excessive guard load.
This is the reality in Getafe University Hospitalas described by Public one of the workers at the Madrid center who has preferred to maintain her anonymity for fear of reprisals. The Independent Trade Union Coalition of Workers-Professional Union (CSIT) has denounced through social networks the situation of saturation and overload that healthcare workers face. The union tells this medium that, in response to their claims, the response of management and management remains the same: “Saturation is not constant; it varies in peaks.”
And he denies this justification: “Saturation is almost daily in the emergency room.“. Reports that This problem has been affecting the Madrid hospital for years.driven by several factors: “The aging of the population, the weakening of primary careand, since the opening of the Infanta Cristina University Hospital in Parla (Madrid) in February 2008, the staff at the Getafe hospital was reduced under the argument that the center would have fewer patients to care for.
According to the center worker, the situation worsens on weekendssince a surgery unit that operates from Monday to Friday closes during those days. As a result, “patients operated on Friday who are not discharged, along with those from previous days who are not yet able to go home, They must be relocated to different units of the hospital“He assures that this leaves few or even no bed available for new admissions coming from the emergency room.
Worker at the Getafe hospital: “The ratios in this emergency exceed the recommendations of the Spanish Society of Urgent and Emergency Nursing”
He explains that, according to the recommendations of the Spanish Society of Urgency and Emergency Nursingto ensure quality care in the emergency room, there should be one auxiliary nursing care technician for every six patients and one male or female nurse for every four. “At the moment, The ratios in this emergency far exceed those recommendations“he warns.
The union section of CCOO at the Getafe hospital has informed Public that last November 4 The management director informed them of the suspension of new hires. As they explain, the manager indicated that sick leave for days of free disposal will not be covered, nor additional permits related to seniority or the income of family members.
“The management informed us that only sick leave will be covered from the 16th day of absence; however, We know of cases of sick leave longer than 16 days that have not yet been covered“, they admit from the union section. In addition, they have informed the director that in some services the debt in hours with the staff exceeds 70-80 hourswhich is equivalent to between ten and 12 days of accumulated work.
In July of this year, Emergency Room staff also filed a complaint with the court to expose the situation they face daily and delimit their responsibility for possible future negligence. “A copy was sent to management, the management and nursing department, as well as human resources at the Ministry of Health“, reports the CSIT member. Public He has contacted the Ministry of Health, but has not received a response.
The management of the Getafe hospital has informed this medium that in recent days there has been a specific increase in the influx of patients in the Emergency area, motivated by an increase in cases of respiratory pathologies. “We are reinforcing all the resources available in the emergency room to ensure quality care, giving priority to patients according to the severity and type of their ailments,” he says.
“Care in the Emergency Department is being provided completely normally,” responds the center’s management.
Likewise, it reports that organizational measures have been implemented to accelerate discharges to hospitalization floors, with the aim of facilitating the admission of new patients from the Emergency Department. “In any case, care in the Emergency Department is being provided completely normally,” he says, despite complaints from workers about the overload and saturation that affects the public health system.
They close an internal medicine plant
In the summer after covid-19 pandemic The 3D unit of the hospital specializing in internal medicine was closed. “As an alternative, the staff at that plant were forced to rotate through different units to cover vacations,” says the worker. He explains that this vacation coverage follows the same scheme as in 2019, despite the fact that current needs are different. “In the Emergency Department, we now have 14 more workers than in 2019, staff whose coverage during vacations is not planned“he adds.
In November 2022, the CSIT sent a letter to the hospital management denouncing the problems that this situation was causing for the staff. “The closure of the plant has caused the rest of the units to be overwhelmed with pathologies that do not correspond to their specialty. Many of these units have closed beds, which are only opened if necessary, but the staff is not increased to cover them,” says the union.
CSIT: “Workers assume an additional burden and the risk of making errors in patient care increases”
“We are deeply concerned about the lack of staff in the different shifts and the decision not to cover rest leave (LD), time leave (LT), vacations and sick leave until 15 days have passed. This measure forces workers to assume an additional burdenwhich not only affects performance and motivation, but also increases the risk of making errors in patient carecompromising both security and quality of service,” he says.
Furthermore, the worker at the Madrid center assures that the closure of the plant causes the General Emergency to collapse on many days. “At no time are we informed that the closure of the plant is due to lack of budget, but rather it is justified by saying that there is not enough care to open it. even though the emergency room is full of patients in the hallways“he regrets. The management has informed the CSIT that the reopening of the plant will be carried out progressively and at specific times, such as in times of high incidence of flu. “They will keep it closed as long as possible.“concludes the worker.
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