Closing the case of Osakidetza’s opposition leaks in 2018, all acquitted
Judge Blanca Ester Díaz Pulido has completed her investigation into the leaks of Osakidetza's opposition in 2018, after six and a half years of hearings. All defendants have been acquitted, a total of 22, although two of the cases have been provisionally filed.
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The holder of the Court of Inquiry No. 2 in Vitoria-Gasteiz has stated that there is no evidence showing that this is tax fraud. At the time of suspected leaks, several questionnaires were analyzed and several responses were analyzed in one investigation. In addition, the union produced several statistics showing that the examinations of the oppositions were manipulated and that there was no agreement. However, the judge considers that there is no evidence that the same irregularities have occurred in the circulation.
All the defendants have been acquitted, although in two cases - that of the opponents Thais Salas and Alfredo Martínez Flórez- the closure has been "provisional" and if new evidence is provided the case could reabrirse.Asi explained The diarion Iker Rioja.
In other specialties, such as Anesthesia, Angiology, Neurosciences, Urology and others, the judge considers that “sufficient evidence to justify the crime has not been found”. Moreover, many of those involved in the case have already stopped working in Osakidetza, either by retirement or by moving to other autonomous communities.
Irregularities in Osakidetza's medical competitions began to be suspected on June 1, 2018, in the case of the oppositions of the specialty of Anesthesia. This was the first complaint lodged by the ESK trade union. The union complained that opposition questions could be heard in advance and that differences in examinations were evident.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office opened an official investigation in autumn 2018 following several complaints from doctors and opponents. In addition to the complaints of the specialty of Anesthesia, suspicions of leaks in other specialties were also analyzed.
There have been several irregularities throughout the process, such as the attempt to expel one of the doctors who filed the complaint. In May 2019, the contract was suspended for anesthesiologist Marta Macho. He was one of the first people to report fraud in Osakidetza's competitions in the last few hours. Male reported that his employment contract had been awarded to another worker for an alleged offence of scam and scam to the labor authority. The ESK trade union argued that the transfer of the employment contract to another worker was contrary to domestic law, and Osakidetza therefore declined to accept the corresponding employment contract.
As the investigations progressed, several senior officials resigned. Among them were the Deputy Director of Human Resources, Xabier Balerdi, the Health Advisor, Jon Darpón, the Director of Human Resources, Juan Carlos Soto and the Director of Osakidetza, María Jesús Mujika.
The period for the initiation of the investigation ended in summer 2021, three years after the facts, but a six-month extension was approved. In January 2022, the "in extremis" allegations made six more months to prevent the case from being resolved. However, no progress was made within that period and, after six months, the end of the instruction was agreed. The decision was ratified by the Hearing of Álava in April 2023.
Now, the judgment points to the closure of the investigation by saying “the delays in the process” and “the lack of an in-depth instruction”. Blanca Ester Díaz Pulido has issued a 164-page order to complete the investigation of the procedure.
Sindikatua pozik agertu da epaileak ikerketa sei hilabetez luzatzea onartu duelako, baina autoari ebazpena jarriko dio "autoa hobetzeko eta defentsen ekintzak baliogabetzea eragozteko".
