The doctors’ strike has had a strong impact on the Balearic health system, with the suspension of about 12,000 consultations and more than 300 operations throughout the archipelago. This was stated this Tuesday by the president of the Government, Marga Prohens, during the plenary session of the Parliament, in response to a parliamentary question.
According to him, the mobilizations caused the cancellation of 11,538 medical consultations, of which some 6,000 corresponded to Primary Care, as well as 316 surgical interventions. Prohens blamed the central government and the PSOE, who she accused of “defending public health when they are in the opposition and applying cuts whenever they are in government”.
Criticism of the Framework Statute and defense of the Government’s measures
The president has accused the State Executive of having opened a conflict with healthcare professionals as a result of the “imposition” of the Framework Statute, which, in her opinion, has been the trigger for the protests.
In response to this, Prohens defended the health policy of her government, highlighting the 240 million euro increase in the health budget, the recovery of the professional career and the implementation of a shock plan against waiting lists.
In this regard, he stressed that the average waiting times have improved, going from 125 to 110 days for an operation and from 91 to 65 days for a specialized consultation.
Garcia: “The government is very dangerous for citizens”.
In the same vein, the Councilor for Health, Manuela García, has expressed herself, who in several of her speeches has accused the central government of cutting almost 50% of the health budget by 2024.
García has gone further by assuring that both the State Executive and the Minister of Health, Mónica García, are “very dangerous for the citizens“. In his opinion, the strike has been followed by a “majority, something that has never been seen before“, which would demonstrate, he said, that “the government is damaging the health of the citizens of this country”.
During a tense exchange with Socialist deputy Patricia Gómez, the councilor accused the central government of “cutting and deteriorating all areas of health” and described the PSIB’s criticism as an attempt to “divert attention”.
Debate on waiting lists and hospital referrals
Gómez had previously reproached the Government for its policies that are contributing to the deterioration of the health system, citing the increase in waiting lists or the transfer of 21 women in labor from the Hospital de Manacor to Son Llàtzer and Son Espases.
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Health discards its own statute for doctors and the strike is still active in Ibiza and Formentera
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Simebal mobilizes doctors in the Balearic Islands on the third day of strike against the draft of the Framework Statute
These criticisms have been rejected by García, who has defended the management of his department and the measures adopted to strengthen healthcare.
Recruitment of physicians and overloaded medical care
The debate continued with the intervention of the deputy of MÉS per Mallorca, Marta Carrió, who questioned the hiring of professionals and the overload of work in the health system.
Carrió has argued that the increase in the budget has not translated into sufficient hiring, pointing out that of the 905 professionals incorporated in two years, the 720 retirees registered in the same period must be subtracted.
Government response and stabilization plan
The Minister of Health rejected this interpretation, assuring that the new professionals “are not taken away” from the retirees, since they are counted when they are active in the services. She also vindicated the Government’s efforts to reverse the cuts made by the previous Executive.
García highlighted the value of the stabilization plan, which will run until 2027 and will enable the retention of between 7% and 10% of healthcare professionals, as one of the keys to strengthening the system and reducing the pressure on care.
