In the middle of Christmas, probably one of the coldest weeks of the year, Emergencies at major public hospitals The Madrid community is doing its best to resist the influx of patients.
thousands of people affected Cases and hospitalizations from influenza and COVID-19 continue to rise As New Year’s Eve approaches, a lack of available beds means some patients have to undergo treatment. Being cared for in the hallway, have to Folding box until Cancel surgery Leave the room empty.
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Back away.
The Madrid Association for the Defense of Public Health (ADSPM) considers this extreme scenario “totally impossible”. foreseeable“Because winter is a peak time for acute respiratory illnesses, this happens every year, but clearly not enough is being done to stop it.”
In Alcalá de Henares, considering the saturation of patients, the annex has been opened intermittently to welcome patients
Although since mid-November, the government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso has implemented a winter plan, which means Employ 1,800 health professionals For the campaign, this measure appears to be unable to cope with the chronic lack of material and human resources in some hospital centers in Madrid.
Just a week ago, CCOO had warned of “catastrophic” management.In this sense, the organization noted that in hospital emergency rooms fort henares they decided Open attachments intermittently In the face of such saturation, patients are welcome.Even the hospital management expressed appreciation Open the sixth floor to alleviate space issues.
The union also issued a warning about the current situation Severo OchoaLocated south of Madrid, where the patient has been Located in the corridor, these locations are “inadequate to ensure the care needed by emergency patients.” Likewise, they have doubled down to accommodate more patients.this means Where there should have been one bed, there were two beds, two people.
Guillén del Barro, nurse in La Paz: “Operations scheduled for several months have been cancelled”
the tessitura in PeaceOn the other hand, known for frequent spills, “it’s not as stressful now,” he explained to us people Representative of network workers, Guillen Del Barro. “Sadly, this is because patients are able to access hospital floors, which is good news in principle; but the reason there are empty beds is because they are being occupied Cancel an action that has been scheduled for months“Del Barro sighed.
“It is a tragedy that one saint had to be clothed while another was stripped naked, which reveals the fundamental problem of lack of beds. Ten years ago, La Paz had 72 more beds. This is equivalent to three full plants. Therefore, patients are required to pay the cost of closing the bed. This is not managed well, this is deliberately breaking the system,” the nurse decried.
The number of public hospital beds in the region has not stopped decreasing; There have been 1,000 fewer beds since 2010, despite a rise in population. This resulted in the number available per 1,000 inhabitants increasing from 3.37 to 3.05 over the same period.
Luis López from the MATS union: “Some people waited up to 15 hours to be cared for”
inside October 12° Professionals warn that similar situations will happen again. “We’ve had a horrible month. The 25th, 26th and 27th was a blast. I’m talking about 800 people being treated in the emergency room this Wednesday. Some people wait up to 15 hours to be served“He said Luis Lopezrepresentative of the Assembly Movement of Health Workers Unions (MATS).
“The Ministry of Health’s reinforcements are not enough. On October 12, they had one nurse, one guard and one TCAE per shift in the emergency department when the capacity was 42 patients and we are now at 68 patients. It’s impossible,” Lopez insisted. .
Years of underfunding, deterioration and demolition
For years, health professionals, unions, associations defending public health and Madrid residents have been protesting against the underfunding, deterioration and dissolution of Madrid’s health services (SERMAS), which ultimately caused “serious problems” for the population.
this Out-of-hospital emergency crisiscaused by the reorganization of the Ayuso government, coupled with the long-term time out In primary care consultations, they favor finding alternative care options in hospital emergencies to address problems that can be addressed in the first level of care.
This increases employee vacationWhat went unreported, again, constitutes the perfect ingredient to cause the public health chaos Ayuso boasted about this winter.
Most affected: Children under four and people over 80
According to the latest report of the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII) on data related to the epidemiological situation during the week of December 18 to 24, ” increased influenza activity in PCs and hospitals, while virtual reality systemThe diseases that cause bronchiolitis tend to be stable in all areas. ”For its part, the event Coronavirus Showing fluctuations.
In the past week of analysis, the global incidence rate of these three diseases has increased to 908.6 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (previous week: 806 cases per 100,000 inhabitants). By age group, those most affected are the youngest children under four, but income also affects people over 80.
this week, Influenza positivity rate once again exceeds coronavirus positivity rate, rising from 12.6% to 13.6%, while influenza (especially type A) rose to 24.8% (20.6% the previous week). VRS fell 14.2% this week, after falling 15.1% the previous week.