El Bierzo threatens “take to the streets” and to protest again against the situation in which the oncology department of the Ponferrada hospital finds itself, which currently lacks specialist doctors. The Regional Council, with its president Olegario Ramon at the head, proposed this Friday to lead this movement with the support of the municipalities of Bierzo and Laciana.
This is the latest reaction to a situation of “helplessness”in the words of the patients concerned and their families; “intolerable”according to statements by health unions; or “unsustainable”, in the opinion of parties such as Coalition for Bierzo, which leads us to believe that these patients are “in a state of shock and in a situation close to abandonment.”
The fact is that the Hospital del Bierzo has accumulated a long season without own oncologists. Of the four positions that make up its workforce, only two are filled. Since May, there has been only one specialist. And the other is now on sick leave. Sacyl has alleviated the situation by sending oncologists from hospitals of Leon, Valladolid and SalamancaBut this support, appreciated by patients, prevents personalized care.
Those concerned organized themselves to present en masse, complaint sheets. There are already more than two hundred. An urgent meeting was organized on Monday with the Minister of Health, Alexandre Vazquezand the president of the Regional Council of Bierzo, “to seek solutions.”
Faced with the Bercian outcry, the Commission is trying to calm things down with statements in which it assures that assistance to patients in Bierzo “It’s guaranteed” with the transfer of oncologists from other hospitals in León, Valladolid and Salamanca that will continue “until it is possible to fill the places.”
Deficient specialty
He adds that currently not available on the job site specialists in medical oncology, that this specialty is “one of the deficient” of the National Health System
“The Regional Health Directorate continues to work on the active search for medical oncologists and to maintain continuity of care,” the note concludes.
For his part, this Thursday at the end of the Government Council, the spokesperson for the Board of Directors and Minister of Economy and Finance, Carlos Fernandez Carriedohopes that when the medical leave of an oncologist at the Hospital del Bierzo, in Ponferrada (León), and the holidays of another end, it will be possible to “relieve some of the tension” and the “pressure” on this service, after their registration 35 complaints due to the lack of professionals in the field.
