Strike At Carlos Haya Hospital in Málaga

A strike has been called by resident trainee doctors at the Carlos Haya hospital in Malaga.

They are refusing to substitute for doctors and say they will not bow to pressure from management. They have set July 11 as the start of their strike.

From then on they will not work from 8 am until 3pm. Fifty six second year residents are involved.

The residents complained they had to cover for emergencies on the morning of July 1. This pushed them over their working limit, stated the Teaching Committee.

The problem was there need to be at least eight fully qualified doctors in the emergency room at all times. However, because five were on holiday, five residents were needed as cover.

“We have the same level of responsibility as the doctors, with wide experience, but the patients’ health is at risk as they don’t want to employ any more doctors,” one of the residents explained to La Opinión de Málaga.

Another resident stated that he believed the hospital was trying to avoid having to hire new staff.

This news follows the recent protest by doctors at the Hospital Clinico in Malaga. More than 50 emergency room doctors at the hospital met by the front doors of the centre last week to denounce what they are calling a “catastrophic” situation.

The doctors foresee that after July 1, when the area more than doubles in population, there will be problems due to the “insufficient resources” to attend to the public effectively.

Daniel Fernandez, delegate from Clinico’s Doctor’s Union, commented that the number of doctors present at the facility was nowhere near enough to be able to attend to the patients with any sort of quality. “There has been a worsening in the quality of service that we can give. In the emergency room the total number of staff has been reduced and there is no plan for increases despite the fact that patient numbers are about to go up,” stated Fernandez.