The Elizondo Health Centre is in a serious state, as reported by the Basque Department of Health. Among three doctors, patients should be cared for in the mornings in Elizondo, while there is only one doctor who can serve more than 3,000 people. In the spring, a doctor requested the coupling, an instrument for the displacement of Osasunbidea workers, so one job was left unfilled. Subsequently, another rejected the contract. There is only one left, and the move could take place in September. “We have tried to cover the posts of doctors that are missing with overtime. Therefore, the only solution Osasunbidea proposes to address the lack of doctors is voluntary productivity,” said Xabi Zarandona, Elizondo Guard physician.

In this situation, he explained that the continuity of patients cannot be guaranteed: “For us they are always new patients, and for patients we are always new doctors. There is no chance of proper follow-up because we don’t know where we’re going to be working.” She adds that continuity is the most important thing in primary care: “This is a specific and unique characteristic, which has great importance in the quality of the care we offer.” It is clear that the quality of the service will be lowered.

In addition to affecting patients, it also affects workers, as the workload increases “a lot”: “Some workers do 10% more than their regular workday and others do 50% more.” In addition, the burden increases in summer, because the holidays of colleagues and guards must be shared: “We are many, but it’s many hours.”

Impossibility of emergency service coverage

Due to the shortage of doctors, they do not manage to carry out guards in open centres for twenty-four hours. In addition, for the payment system, some guards are more attractive than others. Emergencies in the Urdazubi area, for example, are not so profitable for workers.

Therefore, on 11, 24, 27 and 31 July, between 15:20 and 08:00 hours, the area of Urdazubi/Urdax has been without a doctor and has offered service from Elizondo. “For many days, because we don’t have doctors we have to close and if there is anything we have to go to Elizondo. This means that we have a return trip of over half an hour. As a result, Elizondo’s service is empty.” In addition, it is usually a place of “high” incidence.

They have been denouncing this type of working conditions for years, and in other valleys they are also in a critical situation, such as Cinco Villas and Leitza.