The CSIT Professional Union reports that the Emergency Services at La Paz Hospital are treating 25 patients in rooms designed for 12 and 54 in spaces meant for 24. The centre admits to an "unusually slightly higher than expected" demand and attributes the surge to high temperatures.
The Emergency Services at La Paz University Hospital in Madrid are facing the end of summer with double the patients in two of its rooms and around a hundred beds still not replenished. The union section of CSIT Professional Union at the centre claims that the situation is "at breaking point" and that the waiting lists for admission "do not drop below 70 names", even exceeding 100, according to elDiario.es.
The union details that, as of 15 September, a room with a capacity for 12 patients is hosting 25 people, while another designed for 24 is treating 54. "Staff are also not receiving sufficient reinforcements to cope with this demand for care, and the direct consequence is the accumulation of patients awaiting admission," CSIT states in a statement released this Tuesday.
If Emergency Services are at breaking point, it is because more than 100 beds have been closed," the CSIT Professional Union claims
The union attributes the collapse to the decision to remove over a hundred beds during the summer months, a measure that, according to their version, responds to the idea that the workload decreases between July and September. "But the care needs of the population do not diminish," they counter. They also warn of the "significant professional burnout" affecting the staff, with everyday situations of "overcrowding".
Sources from La Paz Hospital admit that the care pressure is "unusually slightly higher than expected in September", although they clarify that these are "isolated peaks". The centre attributes the surge to the sudden rise in temperatures in recent days and hopes for an "immediate downward trend". Among the measures adopted, the hospital mentions the opening of "some more beds in hospital wards" to expedite discharges and the prioritised transfer of patients to the Cantoblanco or Carlos III centres.
The Community of Madrid maintains that its public healthcare "does not close beds, but rather adapts their distribution according to care demand without compromising the quality of service". In contrast, the union insists that saturation is a constant issue in the centre's facilities and not an isolated episode.
The unions expect to remain "at minimal levels" at least until 30 September, the date when the beds removed during the summer are expected to be returned. Until then, the staff continues to raise concerns about the lack of reinforcements and the accumulation of patients awaiting admission in the Emergency Services of the Madrid hospital.
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