Incentives of up to 6,000 euros per year and coverage of expensess. This is the offer that the Ministry of Health is putting on the table with the aim of attracting oncologists to the Hospital del Bierzo and so that the two remaining vacancies in this service can be filled. This was stated on Monday by the councilor of the branch, Alejandro Vázquez, after the meeting held with the mayor of Ponferrada, Marco Morala, and before concluding the two meetings scheduled yesterday with the heads of services of this specialty and the president of the Bierzo City Council, Olegario Ramón, to analyze the situation in the León region where several complaints have already been registered due to the lack of nursing staff in oncology – of the four positions, only two are filled and one of the professionals is on sick leave.
This is what can be proposed as an advantage for those who decide to keep one of these permanent positions in Bierzo, detailed Vázquez, since it will be necessary to wait to approve the bill on difficult-to-fill positions, presented by PP and Vox. in the Cortes, to be able to offer other incentives such as those related to seniority or professional career. While, The measure whereby specialists from other cities come to the Bercian hospital must be maintained –in recent months they have arrived from Valladolid, Salamanca and León– and he said that other “smaller hospitals” should also collaborate. He thanked at that time the “generosity” and “great effort” of the doctors who travel to Ponferrada during the summer months, which are particularly complicated to balance the staff’s vacations. In this way, he added, “the offer of oncological care has been guaranteed at all times” in the hospital and work is underway to “improve continuity” in the rotation of staff who come for consultation.
“It is essential and fundamental,” he said, “to provide permanent staff to serve the Bierzo Oncologyas was evident in the meeting with the specialists. With them, he assured, a commission will be formed to analyze the current situation of this health branch, not only in the region of León, but also in the entire Community.
In addition, the Minister of Health said that the President of the Commission, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, had asked him to draw up a “comprehensive health plan” for the regionwhich will be prepared jointly between the regional management and that of Bierzo, which, being an “integrated health space”, covers both primary and specialized care. “We hope to have it as soon as possible,” explained Vázquez, who also announced that he would create a commission to monitor the measures envisaged in said plan, in which the Ponferrada City Council and the Regional Council will also participate.
Mobilizations
The president of the Bierzo Regional Council was not at all satisfied with the meeting.. The socialist Olegario wondered if the Council could fulfill its commitments, which is why he gave the ministry a week before proposing “mobilizations”. On the other hand, the general secretary of the PSCL, Luis Tudanca, also spoke of a situation that he described as “inconceivable”, which is why he asked Vázquez to “resolve” this issue “for humanity”.
More understanding but also vindictive, the mayor of Ponferrada, Marco Moral (PP), called for “sustainable solutions to the difficulties that exist due to the lack of doctors in many specialties”, because “there are patients and families who have needs and who cannot wait for improvements that will be welcome in the future and that today are urgent.
All this on the day that the director of the Asistencia Sanitaria del Bierzo (GASBI), Pilar Fernández, presented her resignation to the Council, which accepted it. He has been in this position for almost five years, from the hospital in León, and he has not managed to redirect the deficiencies that society and the Bercian political class have been denouncing for a long time. Vázquez announced that the the replacement in office will be Juan Ortiz de Sarachoformer head of the pulmonology department of the Bercian hospital and, previously, medical director of the León health complex.
