“Temporary Doctors in the Canary Islands Call for Stabilization Talks: ‘We’ve Had Enough’”
SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 12 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Canary Islands Medical Employees Union (SEMCA) has urged this Thursday that the Ministry of Health establish a dedicated negotiating table for physicians to finalise the staff stabilisation process.
“We are fed up,” Sunil Lakhwani, a spokesperson for the organisation, remarked during a press briefing. He foresaw it being “impossible” for the process to conclude before December 31, as per the 2021 legislation.
Lakhwani, addressing the media along with his associate Gabriel González and NC-BC MP Yoné Caraballo, cautioned about the “stagnation” and “significant delay” afflicting the Ministry, which is lagging behind in this type of process nationwide.
He noted that “there are no professional scales for nearly all roles” and that only 4,500 candidates have applied for 2,800 positions – of the employees prior to 2017.
He expressed disappointment at the lack of feedback from the Ministry, which failed to clarify the “legal certainty” surrounding a potential deadline extension, highlighting that this poses a “major issue,” especially given that 75% of SCS doctors are working on a temporary basis.
Additionally, he reproached the Executive for missing the “chance” to rectify the situation through the extraordinary process set forth by the law in Congress by mandate of the EU, yet “even in that case, they have not succeeded in doing so.”
Furthermore, he declared that stabilisation is merely “the tip of the iceberg” regarding other concerns plaguing the medical community, including insufficient social security contributions for on-call workers, inadequate rest periods, and low remuneration, which is “at the bottom of Europe,” along with the funding of continuing education.
Lakhwani summarised the conflict as a “persistent weariness,” noting that the resilience of professionals is “overwhelmed” and that a sectorial table “fails to respond” adequately to the limited representation of physicians. “The problems are becoming chronic,” he emphasised.
Gabriel González remarked on the necessity of “restoring dignity” in light of the “insults” endured by doctors over decades, to the extent that their own health is “compromised” and many staff have retired while still in temporary roles.
He stated that “there is no shortage of doctors,” but they are departing the SCS lured by the “illusion” of private healthcare or better opportunities abroad while in the islands they face “burdens that test or exceed the dignity of work.”
Caraballo (NC-BC) announced his intention to introduce several initiatives in Parliament and critiqued the Ministry for not “caring for” professionals, leading to the situation where half of the MIRs trained in the islands “leave.”
In fact, he pointed out that the existing public health model is “at risk” due to the “exodus of doctors,” and replacements cannot be assured. “We are in Preferente,” he described, using a football analogy.
