«We charge 50 euros for the first three nights; From the fourth, the price is 40. It is not the response of the receptionist of a hotel but of the administrator of a Catalan public hospital after being asked by this newspaper if it is possible to spend the night with a family member admitted to the center. Seven years after it emerged, following a report by this media, that almost a dozen public hospitals were charging relatives to sleep in a bed or in an armchair next to their admitted relative, still, as ABC has been able to verify, Some centers that are not private continue to bill for this service, something «totally atypical “which does not happen in the rest of the state’s public hospitals,” according to union sources consulted by this newspaper.
Entities in defense of public health, political groups, and sector centers consider “inadmissible” that family members be charged “for accompanying your family member in difficult times.” “If you sleep with him for two weeks to take care of him, it costs you 600 euros, a fee that is not within the reach of many,” warns the union Comisiones Obreras (CC. OO.) of Catalonia.
Most of the hospitals that years ago, as ABC reported in its April 23, 2012 edition, charged companions for using seats or beds in the rooms where their relatives were admitted, today have already eliminated that service. Neither the Hospital of La Esperança (Barcelona), nor that of Vic (Barcelona), nor that of Igualada (Barcelona), some of the most recognized that used this route for years to increase their income after health cuts, currently have this active collection service; They deactivated it after controversy in the media. However, as this newspaper has been able to confirm, there are still some centers of great importance in the public care sector such as Clinic of Barcelona, the Holy Spirit of Santa Coloma de Gramenet (Barcelona) or the Sant Joan from Reus (Tarragona) that maintain this practice.
In it Hospital Clinic of Barcelona The price for spending the night in an armchair next to the family member is 54.09 euros per day, and on a sofa, 39.93, as spokespersons for the center confirm to ABC. The same sources tell this newspaper that “the collection was suspended during Covid but has been resumed.” They also point out that in Maternity, where years ago they were billed for this concept, now there is no fee. “In Maternity the rooms are all individual and family members are not charged for sleeping,” they say from the Barcelona center.
In it Holy Spirit Hospital of Santa Coloma de Gramenet, which, like the Clínic, is part of the Comprehensive Health System for Public Use of Catalonia (Siscat by its acronym in Catalan) and which, according to its official website, “the healthcare activity it carries out fundamentally corresponds to the public service portfolio”, the bed service for the companion is also paid – this is stated in the hospitalization guide of the center – and the rates, as confirmed to ABC from the hospital, are 50 euros for the first three nights and 40 euros from the fourth. In the response to this newspaper, the hospital recalls that “the possibility of having a bed for one or several nights depends on the availability of free beds at the time of admission.” The Hospital del Espíritu Santo provides public coverage to a population of around 220,000 people in the Barcelona municipalities of Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Sant Adrià de Besòs, Badalona (Llefià neighborhood) and Barcelona (Bon Pastor neighborhood).
The collection of fees does not only occur in centers in Barcelona. According to what sources from the health section of the CC union have told ABC. OO. of Catalonia, in the Sant Joan Hospital in Reus (Tarragona), also for majority public use, family members are given the option of spending the night in a single room upon payment. According to the union, companions are offered “the possibility of having an accessory bed in a single room for 28 euros/night.” Maria dels Àngels Rodríguez, Union Health spokesperson, denounces this situation in statements to this medium. «We are totally against charging companions for being with their families. The public health system must be public and free to use for the patient and their companions. That in a public center they charge 50 euros to sleep in an armchair is outrageous. “As a union we are totally against making business out of the needs of the sick person.”
“Dehumanized measure”
From CGT, your Health delegate in Tarragona, Juan Manuel Martinalso criticizes the measure forcefully. «It is regrettable that public and concerted health services want to be reimbursed with payment installments when using a chair or a bed as a companion for a sick person. Seeking this type of resources is a miserable and dehumanized measure in the face of an essential and universal service like this.
From the Coordinator of Health Users (CUS) also criticize that this service is paid and tell this newspaper that after learning that at least three Siscat hospitals still charge for this service, “we have asked for explanations from the Catalan Health Service (CatSalut)». «Providing comfort to companions is good, what does not seem good to us is that this benefit is discriminatory because the fact that one person can pay that amount, which is precisely not small, and another person cannot, leaves the latter in trouble. situation of accompanying in worse conditions, something that should not happen in the public health system, which has to ensure equity among all the people who come to it,” they point out from the CUS.
Also the Patient Organizations Platform (POP) censures the charge. «It is inconceivable that relatives of patients are charged for being in the room. People who stay with a family member do so because that family member is dependent and needs them. In addition, it helps care for that person and even communicate with health professionals. For the POP it is a very negative question and we do not understand that people in a vulnerable health situation have to pay for that,” he says in statements to ABC. Carina Escobarpresident of the platform.
Vox will ask for explanations
From the political sphere, there has also been a forceful reaction to the situation. The Catalan PP and Vox have expressed to ABC their “rejection” to public hospitals charging companions for spending the night. The PPC deputy Hugo Manchón censures “this treatment of family members.” «From the Popular Party, we want to reaffirm our commitment to good treatment of family members who accompany hospitalized patients, especially in the most difficult moments. We firmly believe that the support of loved ones is essential not only from an emotional point of view, but also for the mental health of patients. Family members should not be charged for staying with their loved ones in public hospitals, and even less so when there are families in vulnerable situations,” says the deputy.
In his opinion, “family support is a fundamental pillar For anyone experiencing a health problem, and in those moments of distress, not everyone has the resources to assume additional expenses. Public health must guarantee free support, ensuring that no one is left alone because they cannot pay for a bed or a chair.
From Vox, the deputy Maria Garcia Fustercriticizes the measure and announces that his party will present a parliamentary question for the Department of Health to respond for these charges. The deputy describes the department as “Alí Baba’s Cave.” «The problem is not that they make a family member pay for a bed to stay with a patient, or that they make a patient pay for television to be comfortable, or that they make family members pay for parking when they go to visit the sick. . The problem is that the Department of Health is like Ali Baba’s cave and Vox has denounced it on countless occasions,” says the deputy.
He adds that the Department’s budget “is not intended to improve the quality of care, nor to improve the quality of patients who may be accompanied or who could be accompanied by their families, or watch free television quietly when they are admitted, and be more comfortable, nor to improve waiting lists”, but to “defray the large salaries of senior officials of the Department«.
«There are 116 senior officials with salaries above 100,000 euros per year. “There goes the money,” he maintains. Garcia Fuster. He accuses these senior officials of “using counseling exactly as if it were a placement agency and forgetting the most important thing, which is the patients.” Vox announces that it will ask Salut for explanations about the charges.
To questions from ABC Health Counseling He has limited himself to stating that he is not aware that totally public centers charge the fee and that “it would be necessary to verify under what conditions those from Siscat make this charge.”
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