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INPRIMATU
Chronology of the facts: What's going on at Donostia Hospital?
  • The desire to introduce Onkologikoa in Osakidetza has much to do with this wave of impeachment, resignation and protest. The professionals of the Donostia Hospital have denounced Osakidetza's "centralized and vertical" attitude, because they consider that their opinion is not heard when managing the service, because they are usually fired "who tries to solve the situation".
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Osakidetza manages the Onkologikoa located next to the Donostia Hospital, but one does not facilitate access to the other, that is, the one who has to go to Onkologikoa, who so requests, can go directly to him and does not have to go through the usual consultation. However, with a view to the future, Osakidetza, the Department of Health and, therefore, the Basque Government intend that the Oncology Hospital should cease to have its own management and in the case mentioned, for example, Osakidetza channeled the consultation to the Oncological Patient. This Osakidetza senior management plan did not coincide with the previous Donostia Hospital management team.

Moreover, the Department of Health also intends that the Hospital de Cruces be the most specialized and therefore referent health center. In this regard, the proposed transfer of the surgical service from Basurto to Cruces, whose process is interrupted by the order of a judge from Vitoria, although the Government confirms its commitment to continue with the plan. In general, the decline of the public health system and the privatization of the service have also been discussed in recent months and years; as 28 OSI Donostia chiefs of service have reported, human resources are "downwards".

Day by day, what has happened in the last days at Donostia Hospital?

On Thursday, December 1, the Osakidetza Director General of Donostia, Itziar Pérez ESI, ceased her duties. Initially, without publicly arguing, but as Pérez communicated to his colleagues through a note, it was by disagreement with the general direction.

On Friday, 2 December, Osakidetza stopped a second person: Idoia Gurrutxaga, Medical Director ESI Donostia. Within a few hours, surgery deputy director Adolfo Begiristain resigned denouncing Osakidetza's "dictatorial attitude". In fact, Health Advisor and Osakidetza expressed in EiTB that they make decisions by "political criteria and friendship".

On Monday, December 5, Medical Deputy Director Maite Martínez resigned stating "improper cesses".

On the same day, 28 heads of service at the Donostia Hospital sent a harsh letter against the actions of Osakidetza and the Department of Health. Precisely, the "policies" demanded that they leave suicides.

Most of the reactions came from this document. The trade unions demanded explanations and denounced that Osakidetza maintained the same position at the meetings of the Sectoral Bureau: "They're vertical and it's impossible to negotiate."

Opposition political parties prolonged the resignation sounds. In addition to demanding explanations and requesting the urgent hearing of the counsellor, both EH Bildu and PP-C's requested the resignation or dismissal of the counsellor.

In the afternoon came the press conference of Health Advisor Gotzone Sagardui, after an hour and a half of meeting with Lehendakari Urkullu. The departure seemed entirely logical because the role of the Centre Directors is to comply with the guidelines of the senior management of Osakidetza. The reasons for the impeachment were not alarmed by the counselor, although journalists asked half a dozen questions.

Counsellor Sagardui announced at the hearing that the OSI Donostia management team was in the process of reorganization. It goes without saying that the service will not be damaged, since by then Agustín Agirre had provisionally assumed the post of director. In the words of the counselor, there have been the "confidence": one of the workers who denounced the fraud in the 2018 Public Employment Offer call, the anesthesiologist Roberto Sánchez, has denounced that Agustín Aguirre, then director of OSI Debagoiena, made him a "unsustainable" situation.