Family doctors support agendas of 52 appointments a day compared to the limit of 35 agreed upon by SaludUGT Public Services Andalusia
A total of 52 family medicine appointments in one morning. This Thursday, the Public Services Area of UGT Andalusia has denounced that the professionals of the Northern Management Area of Cádiz They have been sent a “standard agenda” that includes more than fifty appointments scheduled between 8:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
This “type agenda”, as the document to which you have had access calls it The Andalusian Post Officeis far above the 35 appointment limit programmed that the Andalusian Health Service (SAS), dependent on the Ministry of Health, signed with the unions more than a year ago.
Type agendas for Family Medicine appointments presented in the North Management Area of Cádiz
The North Management Area of Cádiz encompasses the Primary Care of Jerez, Northwest Coast and Sierra de Cádiz and Health Centers of Jerez and Ubrique. According to UGT Andalucía, “professionals are being forced to accept agendas that include up to 52 itemized appointments, and they are scheduled from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., without taking into account the various issues that arise during the day. work”, such as “casualties that occur daily and are not replaced”.
Likewise, UGT denounces that “Chaos in Primary Care is increasing and the Ministry of Health still has not developed a Primary Care Pact that includes very positive measures that would help eliminate the pressure on consultations.” For its part, from the Andalusian Medical Union (SMA) inform this newspaper that they have not commented “yet on this specific case that occurs in Cádiz.”
Health signed to reduce the agendas to 35 patients
In January 2023the Ministry of Health and the Andalusian Medical Union closed a agreement for “reduce family doctors’ schedules of Andalusia, which They will not exceed 35 patients per day and those of pediatricians to a maximum of 25 a day”.
The Health Counselor, Catalina Garciathen expressed his “satisfaction” with this agreement between the SAS and the SMA, and highlighted dialogue, understanding and consensus, as “fundamental” elements, to advance in any area and, in that case, “especially important” for guarantee better health for all the citizens of Andalusia”.
A year ago, in May 2023, the Andalusian Health Service and the union organizations Satse, CCOO, UGT and CSIF ratified the agreement in Sectoral Table. The document contemplated 20 measurement blocks with the aim of significantly improving healthcare in Primary Care.
Among other measures, the Pact included “advances in scheduling agendas, with 35 appointments [diarias] for Family Medicine and 25 for Pediatrics”
Unfilled Family Medicine places
The UGT complaint comes just a week after it became known that Andalusia has counted “for the first time” vacant positions for Resident Internal Medicine (MIR). And that 64 of the 66 MIR vacancies correspond to the specialty of Family and Community Medicine (Primary Care).
Specifically, more than half of these vacancies (38) are concentrated in the province of Jaén; Córdoba, Huelva and Málaga have five each; Cádiz, five; and three from the province of Granada.
“A misunderstanding in communication”
Asked about the UGT complaint, the Department of Health explained that: “In its strategic line to improve accessibility in Primary Care in Jerez, the Northwest Coast and the Sierra, the Area has launched a organizational change In health centers it has three legs: medical, nursing and administrative. The objective is to work in a coordinated manner to organize the flow of patients and that everyone who goes to a Primary Care center is attended to, respecting the agreement to limit family medicine patients to 35 and pediatrics patients to 25.”
“The project began months ago in La Serrana, in Jerez, agreed with professionals, and as a result there have been improvements in accessibility, there are no claims for delays in care and it has an acceptable delay of days,” continues the Administration .
“From the Area they point out that the complaints may be due to a misunderstanding in communication offered on organizational change and, in general, non-delayable attention, which is unpredictable.” And they assure that “The area manager is going to meet with professionals and unions as soon as possible to clarify all the terms of this measure“.
