Telesforo Monzon has addressed the health system in the fifth measurement of the Nationmetro. According to the answers received, 56% of the population believe that the possibility of receiving care in Euskera should have a right and 32.5% believe that it should not. In addition, 52.6% stated that universities should guarantee a minimum number of Basque doctors to guarantee the service, while 31.5% considered the opposite.

18% of respondents said they have ever felt discriminated against for several reasons: 25% for being a young person, 14% for socioeconomic level, 13% for being a Basque speaker, 12% for ethnicity or race, 9% for disability, 5% for being older and 9% for other reasons. “We have to listen to patients and do patient-centered medicine so we don’t discard it,” explains Idoia Azkona.

The examination is being prepared to be a resident internal physician and university practices have enabled him to analyse the situation of Osakidetza hospitals and primary care centres. Considers that language and communication in general are “very important” to provide appropriate attention: “Unfortunately, it is not guaranteed for Basque speakers the attention in the language they prefer.”

Language, besides being a right, for Azkonara this influences attention because it moves away from patient-centered medicine, seeking “the best possible care” for the results of the healing process to be “better”: “I understand that patients feel excluded because for them the Basque language is the most comfortable or easy to describe in that uncomfortable moment”.

He adds that difficulties of understanding “increase” in the case of children and the elderly: “In the case of the elderly, less importance is given to what they say and more attention is given to their children, so they are out of play in the healing process”.

Despite the growing importance of complementary tests and some techniques, medicine is based on clinical interview and communication: “The dialogue with the patient is the one that finally brings us closer to the diagnosis or diagnostic suspicion.”

It therefore considers that care should be ensured in its own language: “In Hego Euskal Herria, in addition to Castilian and Euskera, there are other languages, and with the few tools we have, we cannot adequately serve them”.

However, he believes that they do not have enough time to put patients in the center because there is a “tremendous” workload: “It is clear that it is difficult to dedicate the time each patient needs because physically there is no time”.