About 100 families from Álava appeared on Saturday in Vitoria-Gasteiz to present the Aurrera platform of Public Health for Children, alert the “serious” situation of the pediatric service and demand a profound change in public policies. They presented themselves as parents and guardians “concerned about the situation of public health”.

25% uncovered paediatric places

The situation drawn by the platform members is nothing simple. They have listed several deficiencies: “Inability to contact the Administration, long waiting lists, difficulty to receive in-person care, lack of common protocol, little time with patients, impossibility or difficulty to receive care in Basque”, among others. They also report that there are few professionals and that they are not replaced when they leave: “Consequently, there are health centers that have been without a pediatrician for months. In other cases, children are attended by non-pediatric professionals". They say that Álava has 43 places of pediatrics, but ten of them are uncovered, almost a quarter.

The platform has supported and supported health professionals for their work in “precarious” conditions, “beyond their possibilities”.

The rural environment, most punished

If the deficiencies are significant in urban areas, the platform stresses that in rural areas the situation is “more worrying”: “The lack of staff means that on many occasions, instead of pediatricians, family doctors have to deal with it. Therefore, in cases where resolution through other services is possible, emergency care is encouraged, which means their collapse, increasing waiting times and the number of patients".

180 degrees of turn

The situation described “is not random, primary care is being dismantled”, said the members of the platform “The management that has been in place for decades is the result of inadequate policies”. These policies have called on the Basque Government to change its course of “180 degrees”.

Specifically, the Public Health Platform Aurrera has requested the creation of a Continuous Care Center for Pediatrics, along with other demands: “In-person care, establishment of common protocols, pediatricians and reference nurses, reduction of the number of children per professional, respect for linguistic rights guaranteeing care in Basque and visibility and facilitation of the need for translation service to other languages”.

Demonstration on Day 22

In March, the Aurrera Public Health Platform announced a demonstration for April 22. They explained that they called for mobilization against the management of the Government Department of Health and in favor of the public health system. The initiative, coordinated with ten other popular platforms of the community, has organized demonstrations in the three capitals: Vitoria at 12:00 from Plaza Bilbao, Bilbao at 12:00 from Plaza del Sagrada Corazón and San Sebastián at 17:00 from Boulevard. The Aurrera platform of Child Public Health invites citizens to participate in the demonstrations.