Majorcan health centre staff overwhelmed

“The situation has become untenable, we have reached the limit of our ability to provide adequate care for all of our patients because the situation in Primary Care has become unbearable,” they said in a statement.

They also point out that their workload has increased because of the number of new cases and say they are struggling to cope with the continuous telephone and personal monitoring of patients who attend Outpatient Clinics for health reasons as well as having to do PCR tests and follow-up on positive patients and their contacts.

"Primary Care teams are overwhelmed by this situation and they cannot do all their tasks or guarantee the safety of professionals if they don’t get immediate human and technological reinforcement,” according to the statement.

The 43 Health Centre Coordinators who signed the statement are demanding an immediate increase in Primary Care investment; more staff exclusively for tracking and follow-up services; the hiring and urgent training of Administrative Staff and the salary update that was approved by the Central Government.

The Coordinators stressed that the Government's decision to freeze the 2% salary increase approved by the Central Government, which has been applied in other Autonomous Communities, is “causing discouragement amongst staff."

The Balearic Medical Union, Simebal, warned last Saturday that Health Centres are at saturation point because of the lack of staff.

In their statement, the Health Centre Coordinators call for the citation system to be changed to one that’s more efficient.

“The citation system is causing despair amongst Professionals and patients and many employees are extending their working hours to cope with a job that’s insurmountable."

Simebal claims that the Manager of Primary Care, Miquel Caldentey, told Healthcare Professionals that "tranquility" should prevail insisting they "get the job done in the best possible way."

In a statement, the State Confederation of Medical Unions, or Cesm, urged the adoption of "necessary and urgent measures" to control the spread of Covid-19 after a continuous increase in cases and outbreaks throughout Spain.

Cesm also called for more personnel to "limit care overload” saying the Professionals are in a precarious situation "without protection" from the Public Administration.