Can Misses Hospital has activated the flu contingency plan in anticipation of an increase in healthcare pressure due to respiratory viruses in the coming days. The measure was implemented this Tuesday by the Health Area of Ibiza and Formentera and includes staff reinforcements both in the Emergency Department and on the hospitalization floors, in a context marked by the sick leave of professionals affected by the flu itself.
As reported by the Health Area, 20 reinforcement professionals have been hired: ten nurses and ten nursing care technicians (NCTs). Of this total, five nurses and five TCEs are specifically incorporated to the ER, while the main novelty this year is the reinforcement in hospitalization, with another ten professionals -five nurses and five TCEs- destined to the floors. In the ER, the reinforcement is applied in all shifts, morning, afternoon and night.
The nursing union SATSE explains that, although the situation in Can Misses does not reach the level of collapse that is being recorded in hospitals in Mallorca and Menorca, the center is suffering the consequences of a high number of casualties among health personnel. The union’s spokeswoman, Verónica León, told Radio Ibiza that the care pressure has not reached its maximum and that there are still beds available, but warns that the absences are limiting the effectiveness of the planned reinforcements.
At the moment, the occupancy rate at Can Misses Hospital stands at 82%, with 41 available beds, while the Intensive Care Unit has an occupancy rate of 46.7%, with eight free beds out of the fifteen available. Despite these data, SATSE warns that the nurses’ recruitment pools are practically exhausted, which makes it difficult to cover the care needs in a period of high demand.
The union insists that the situation is generating work overloads that they describe as “unbearable” and shifts to the limit for active nurses. SATSE stresses that the healthcare system cannot be sustained solely on the continued effort of the staff, and calls for more structural resources to deal with recurrent episodes such as the flu peak.
