The covid was present on the covers of our last two Christmases and today it seems like a threat overcome. Memory is fragile and we only remember Santa Barbara when she thunders. The applause for health personnel on the balconies and the promises of budget increases for health will remain in the newspaper libraries and in our memories. The problems overlap and the war in Ukraine has become our main headache and the millions of euros that were going to swell the health departments have been allocated to the Ministry of Defense due to script requirements. But problems in the world of health persist. On a collective level, the affected personnel have once again had to resort to the threat of strikes to demand the improvements required by the sector, while, on an individual level, personal solutions are sought such as retirement or emigration to other countries where the professionals feel better paid and valued.
The foundation of our healthcare system works and so does public-private collaboration. The problem is that it needs to provide it with more financial resources to increase the workforce (especially when there are so many doctors and nursing staff about to retire), also to pay better salaries so that they don't have to emigrate or take days off to work in other countries (as is happening today) and, obviously, investing in technological and medical resources to improve the service. It was recently estimated that there were five million Spaniards on the waiting list.
It would be nice not to wait for another pandemic to come and we have to run to improvise again. You only need to see this week the emergency services of some hospitals, which were totally saturated by the flu epidemic, which has forced them to deschedule urgent surgeries to have more beds.
This article is not intended to be another Christmas story. Just being a reminder of what was said in times of pandemic and of the mistakes we weren't supposed to make. Taking care of our health personnel is taking care of ourselves and society.
