On such a day as today, a year ago, the Minister of Health, Mónica García, received in her office the Intensivist doctor Tamara Contreraswho gave him the more than 100,000 signatures collected through a campaign at Change.org to demand the end of the 24 -hour medical days in a row. At that time, the meeting was hopeful, since The minister promised to end these guards, recognizing the denunciation of the toilets for “the situation of extreme exhaustion to which we are subjected and the consequences that this is for the care of the patients ”. Today, a year later, Contreras returns to the ministry with 180,000 signatures, accompanied by five other doctors, with the unease of feeling deceived by Mónica García and without being received by the minister.
«This morning (yesterday) they responded to the mail that we sent them a week ago requesting an encounter with the minister, and they told us that they will not be able to receive us for agenda reasons. All we want is to explain why he has breached his commitment. We cannot more, ”explains the intensivist doctor, who leads this campaign to end the 24 -hour guards system.
“There was understanding, no longer”
«A year ago, I went out with a good feeling of the meeting we had. There was understanding. She, being a medical and having made guards, knows perfectly the reality we suffer. He has been fighting for public health and our working conditions for years, so The conditions were ideal for that change to finally occur», Says Contreras.
In fact, Garcia told him that “the 24 -hour guards had to change. It is not human to have 70 -hour weekly days. “I agreed, but has not fulfilled his word, at all.” He then proposed that the current system was modified to 17 -hour guards, which, although it is not a great advance, represented some improvement, ”says the intensivist.
However, the cold water jug arrived when in January the draft of the Framework Statute was leaked, the document that includes the working conditions of health professionals and is being negotiated between the Ministry of Health and the unions. «The surprise was that in the document no improvement was reflected in terms of guards, as the minister had committed. Even news appeared that worsened the current conditions ». Then, Dr. Contreras stayed in “shock.” “We had held several interesting conversations throughout the year until January, when I stopped receiving answers to emails and communication was blocked,” he acknowledges with outrage.
“The Framework Statute”
For this reason, today takes a flight from Menorca (where he works) to Madrid To deliver the urn with almost 200,000 signatures. Yesterday he left a 24 -hour guard, today flies to the capital, and on Friday he returns to the hospital to put on the robe and continue working. “It’s a beating, but you have to fight for the situation to improve,” he says
During the interview, the intensivist wants to emphasize that this fight is not motivated by economic aspects, but by the “inhuman” of the guards, which affect the health of doctors and also have an impact on patients. «We are the only profession that has these conditions, and we are talking about health. What we want is for professionals to work well and that no patient is the patient who is treated in the 23rd time; We want all that to be reduced that scientific evidence says that they are the medical errors that are produced by the tiredness of professionals, ”he reflects.
He is aware that changing a model that has not evolved five decades is not easy, so he accepted the “patience” asked for the minister and endured until the disappointment with the Framework Statute came. «We have been with bad working conditions for more than 20 years. We understand that the change takes time, but we do not see any movement that gives us hope that this will happen, according to the latest statements», He says. Nor does it understand how, if from the government you fight to reduce the working day of all professionals, doctors must work up to 90 hours a week
On the elimination of 24 -hour guards, Contreras demands that, if it is reduced at 17 hours that Garcia promised, the same economic compensation is maintained, since “this issue generates a lack of consensus” among professionals “for the fear of losing purchasing power.” In addition to his visit to today’s ministry, Contreras recalls the importance of Saturday’s demonstration against The Framework Statute “which continues to legitimize the 24 -hour guards”. They thought Mónica García was one of his, but no. The policy swallowed the doctor.