Seville, Jan 19 (EFE).- The indefinite strike called this Friday by the Primary Medical Union (SMP) in protest against the situation of primary care in the Andalusian health system has been seconded by 2.73 percent of the physicians of the morning shift in health centers.
According to data provided to EFE by the Ministry of Health, 69 physicians of the 2,529 who are on the morning shift have followed the strike, representing 2.73 percent, with three provinces in which there has been no follow-up and another has been seconded only by a professional.
The minimum services agreed between the conveners and the Ministry of Health for today’s day was estimated at 100 percent for emergencies and 40 percent of all visits in primary care.
Unemployment by provinces according to Health
By provinces, in Almería six physicians have supported the strike; in Cádiz, 35, in Córdoba, Granada and Jaén, none, Huelva, 13, Málaga, 14 and Seville, one doctor, according to the data provided by Health, while the convening union has not yet provided data.
The strike promoted by the SMP, a union that is not part of the Health Sector Board, intends to denounce that primary care is not a priority for the regional government, although the Andalusian Medical Union (SMA) has disassociated itself from it, which has called a strike on January 27.
The conveners propose to adequately budget primary health care, and that this money be used “in essential and important things such as adequately sizing the workforce”, and they demand organizational measures “that respect the health of all, including ours”.
SMP Requests
The SMP proposes limiting schedules, sufficient time for each appointment, rearranging the tasks of the different professionals by competencies, ordering access to the doctor “which is now chaos”, as well as guaranteeing healthy and non-discriminatory conditions for the doctors who They work in the ER.
“The days are endless in hours and workload in many places, and poorly paid,” recalls the union, which demands that the level of knowledge, difficulty, responsibility, hardship and isolation be recognized, as well as compensation for overload when necessary unavoidable due to exceptional situations (not as a rule).
The SMP has denounced the “repeated lack of response” from the SAS and the Ministry of Health to the demands of the trade union center “well known by the current government and compromised by the previous legislature, without response to the majority of the requests”.
The meetings held during the last four years with different interlocutors were “unsuccessful in convincing the current rulers of the benefits of a well-budgeted Primary Care, with material resources, organized with common sense and enough professionals, in the case that concerns us doctors , that they are also well treated ”, according to the complaint of the Primary Medical Union.
Apologies to the users
In a statement, the SMP has apologized to the users for the inconveniences that may be caused by these mobilizations, and has trusted that these “result in the benefit of all and serve so that we have primary care that we really feel proud and serve us to help care for and recover the health of many Andalusians.
The Andalusian Medical Union has distanced itself from this call, which is part of the Health Sector Table and which organizes the protest on January 27, for which it has clarified that tomorrow’s strike announcement comes from a union formation of recent appearance, whose acronyms, curiously, can lead to confusion,” he explained in a statement.
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