The plan to improve the quality of Public Health in the El Bierzo Hospital and its area of influence will involve a first investment of 14.7 million euros in the next two years and the creation of 80 more positions for health professionals in the care center. , among them 24 new doctors and two more oncologists, as announced this Wednesday by the Minister of Health of the Government of Castilla y León, Alejandro Vázquez, during his visit to the region to attend the official presentation of the new manager of the Health Area, Juan Ortiz de Saracho. The Comprehensive Care Guarantee Plan will mean the creation of 24 doctor positions on staff for the Hospital del Bierzo, 30 nursing positions, 20 auxiliary technicians, four laboratory technicians and two imaging technicians. It will be at the beginning of November when the Board will present all the details.
The counselor highlighted that the Oncology service will go from four professionals to six, which will make it more attractive for specialists, who will see their workload reduced. The loss of two professionals from the service in recent weeks has called into question the quality of care that cancer patients receive, but the counselor, supported by the head of Oncology at the Hospital of León, Andrés García, and the president of the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology, César Rodríguez, insisted on conveying a message of tranquility to the people of Bercia. Currently, up to 27 specialists from different hospitals in Castilla y León “of recognized prestige” are entering the rotation to cover the two absences in the Oncology service of the El Bierzo Hospital, reorganized to guarantee continued care for the sick and where now There are also 11 patients pending appointments, with an “absolutely acceptable” wait, said Andrés García, of 12 days.
The plan to improve Public Health in the Bierzo and Laciana Health Area will create, in the area of Primary Care, the figure of the pediatric nurse, a chronic pain unit, a nursing project linking with the nursing home for the elderly. Villablino, and a unit for early detection of diabetic retinopathy and diagnostic equipment, among other improvements.
In Hospital Care, it will implement up to 25 new services, such as the area of pelvic floor rehabilitation, cardiac rehabilitation, cardiac arrhythmia unit, cardiac imaging unit, improvement of sleep pathologies, improvement in intensive respiratory care, robotic surgery or palliative care, inter alia. Digital health will also be developed. And infrastructure will also continue to move forward, such as preparing for the arrival of the linear accelerator for Radiotherapy.
In addition to meeting with the manager of the Bierzo Health Area, Juan Ortiz de Saracho, the head of the Oncology service at the Hospital of León, Andrés García, the president of the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology, César Rodríguez, the mayor of Ponferrada, Marco Morala, the president of the Bierzo Regional Council, Olegario Ramón, the counselor included members of the Platform in Defense of Public Health of Bierzo and Laciana and the Oncobierzo Platform in the meeting. The counselor expressed his surprise because the latter did not attend the meeting.
Meeting of the Minister of Health at the El Bierzo Hospital with the professionals, the platform for Health, the mayor of Ponferrada and the president of the Bierzo Council.
The Board, Vázquez said, wants to make the El Bierzo Hospital more attractive so that the current Oncology Resident Doctors, with eight of them finishing next year, choose the region as their destination. “We have created a working group with the 11 heads of community service and we have been complying with the agreed things. We want to make jobs attractive, for which we have increased the number of staff positions so that the workload is less We believe that it will be easier to fill them. When the MIR ends we want to be able to fill the places with part of them, making the service attractive so that they come. We are working on continuity of care, so that the patients continue to have the same doctor and also work. in changes in the agendas and that it is done due to pathologies,” explained the counselor. Vázquez acknowledged that the current situation, with specialists from other hospitals willing to cover the casualties in Bierzo, is not ideal, but it is a temporary solution waiting to fill the vacant positions in the service.
Oncology has treated 1,923 patients and carried out 3,272 treatments at the Day Hospital since June. And since mid-September, with the arrival of the new manager, the Day Hospital has treated 445 patients and carried out more than 762 oncological treatments. The coordinator and head of Oncology at the Hospital of León explained that 27 oncologists from León, Valladolid, Burgos, Salamanca and Segovia come to Bierzo. “There is a surplus of oncologists,” he said. And he assured that the service covers the 60 agendas of a month. “There are only 11 patients pending appointments with a 12-day wait. It is acceptable. The doctors are happy, they have verified that the equipment is excellent, that everything is organized. The alarm must stop. We are working for two to three months. We know which is not the best model but it is the best with what we have,” said Andrés García.
The Minister of Health, upon arrival at the El Bierzo Hospital.
Among the service improvements, the Hospital now has a nurse manager, a hospital pharmacist to control all medication and work routes with other hospital services to coordinate care for cancer patients.
And the president of the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology, César Rodríguez, assured that they are “of the highest level”, the professionals who in solidarity travel to Bierzo to cover the Oncology sick leave. “We want to start working now so that the MIR understand that this is a good destination for them to consider coming. There is a structural deficit of oncologists throughout Spain,” he recalled.