The ambulance personnel in Girona denounce the "bad condition" of the vehicles that "circulate with an average of 550,000 kilometers". The general secretary of CCOO health transport in Girona, Ivan Codinach, details that this occurs because "they are bought at the beginning of the bid and are not changed" and ensures that it causes "a constant entry and exit of ambulances in the workshops". In addition, the sector also criticizes the "lack of personnel" that "forces them to work overtime" to cover, especially throughout the summer, the increase in population on the Costa Brava. In the same way, they demand that the concessionary company (Transport Sanitari de Catalunya) pay them the "close to a thousand euros" that they claim owes to the almost 600 workers in the Girona area.
The employees in the private health transport of Girona denounce that they work in the demarcation with "deteriorated" ambulances that accumulate "between 400,000 and 700,000 kilometers". The general secretary of CCOO health transport in Girona explains that "they can circulate because they pass the ITV", but criticizes that their state "limits" them because it causes vehicles "to have to repeatedly enter the workshop due to breakdowns, leaving them out of service.
Codinach also maintains that the kilometers traveled that ambulances accumulate "affect the comfort of the patient, with damaged bunk beds and benches" and their safety. As he explains, there have been cases in which "smoke from the engine has leaked into the driver's cab and the patients' cab" that could intoxicate them.
In parallel, the sector also denounces what it considers a "lack of personnel" that they attribute to "poor working conditions". "We find ourselves with an unusual situation of lack of relief for those who retire," says Codinach, who explains that private health transport personnel are assigned "the minimum category with low salary" and that, he understands, causes "the new workers do not see projection in the company and bet on other sectors such as Firefighters or Mossos".
In fact, the salary is a demand that has been dragging on from the sector for a long time. The workers of concessionary companies such as Transport Sanitari de Catalunya (TSC) complain about the labor and salary differences they suffer with respect to public workers of the Medical Emergency System (SEM).
Now, the nearly 600 TSC workers in the Girona area are demanding that the company pay them the close to a thousand euros each that they say they have been owed for almost half a year. "We have a conflict due to the non-payments of our winning companies here in Girona," denounces Ivan Codinach, who insists that "agreements are reached and they are never fully complied with."
In summer, this lack of personnel that they describe causes workers from the rest of the regions to have to travel to the Costa Brava in order to cover the increase in population that the coastal area suffers when temperatures rise. "They move us from the usual bases and put us on the coast to reinforce," explains Codinach, who details that "these overtime are on the calendar and must be done because they cannot be covered due to lack of personnel."
For private health transport personnel, carrying out this coverage means "starting much earlier to be able to make the trip" from their usual base on the coast with routes that can exceed an hour of driving. In addition, they also criticize that this coverage supposes "wear and tear on their own vehicles" for which, they criticize, they do not charge mileage.
In relation to a possible neglect of other points in the Girona region during the summer when personnel on the coast have to be increased, Codinach makes it clear that this does not happen and that "all areas are covered equally". Of course, he affirms that the staff is more tired because "the workers bear a greater load".
The general secretary of the CCOO medical transport in Girona warns that, coinciding with the end of summer, "we could find areas uncovered by units that cannot work" due to the fatigue of the personnel added to the wear and tear accumulated by the vehicles.
