argia.eus
INPRIMATU
Investment in primary care
  • Vox populi is that the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted, among other things, the deficits of our public health, which has always boasted to be β€œthe best in Europe.” Within that, we should look at primary care.
Juan Mari Arregi 2020ko abuztuaren 27a
(arg: EiTB)

Public health professionals and workers were already warning – and more now – of the agony of primary care, which is already collapsed.

Any user of this service can see how difficult it is to make a face-to-face consultation. Many, even before the start of the pandemic, had been without their regular doctors for months, as they have retired and have not been replaced. And that work has to be done by other doctors, even if it's not the norm. In my case, the doctor retired in December and nine months later he has not been replaced.

Those who stay in outpatient clinics do not have time to dedicate themselves to primary care, as many of them have been placed as explorers of the virus. These explorers are not fed through new contracts, although this could imply a strengthening of the health system.

Thus, it is necessary for public administrations to choose the investments that are made and that, in this direction, the health system is a special priority at the service of the majority of this country. Work teams (doctors, nurses, auxiliaries, cleaning personnel, etc.) should be stabilized and expanded, and health system facilities, especially primary care, should be improved. The deferral of other investments and the exclusion of pharaonic and antisocial expenses such as the Basque Y is essential for this, since the destination of this money to public health must be a priority political objective.