Balearic government has health problems

President Bauzá did his best at an emergency press conference on Wednesday night to smoothe over the cracks in his government, especially the Minsitry for Health, but yesterday he was not only dealt another blow by Borras but also by Mesquida going public with the reasons that he resigned 111 days after being appointed to the position on July 6, when his predecessor resigned.

On Wednesday night Bauzá said that his resignation was not related to the forthcoming budget which will see fuurther cuts to health service spending.
However, yesterday, Meqsuida said that he quit because certain high ranking members of the Partido Popular (PP) and the government did not approve of some of the people he had appointed to his team at the Ministry for Health, Family and Social Welfare.

He even went as far as to claim that he had been categorically told who could and who could not form part of his department. “We had a clear project which we knew would work but thanks to three individuals, it all came crashing down around us and I was no longer prepared to try and operate under that kind of pressure,” he said. “I did not feel comfortbale in the job. When I took over the atmosphere within the Ministry was agressive and negative and, in order to change all that, I decided to assemble my own team but I was clearly told that was not going to be possible. My predecessor Carmen Castro was forced to try and work under similar restraints,” he added.

Those comments and the resignation of Borras fuelled calls from the opposition and the medical unions for the Ministry for Health to be merged with the Minsitry for Finanace.

Opposition and unions said that there was no need to appoint another Minister for Health considering the way the PP government has “mistreated” the regional health service coming to power. “We don't need a change of minister, we need a change in the way that the government governs,” the Socialist Party said.