The residents of Pozuelo, Alcorcón or San Sebastián de los Reyes, like those of Las Tablas in the capital, are having to test their ability to endure in the face of the delay in the construction of their respective health centers promised by the PP of Madrid in successive urban developments. Outpatient clinics on which Isabel Díaz Ayuso, Cristina Cifuentes and Esperanza Aguirre founded part of their electoral campaigns since 2005 and which, in some cases, do not even have the initial procedures for the foundation.
More Madrid has reached up to 17 once the May elections have passed. The four mentioned above plus those of Montecarmelo, Valdebebas, Navalcarnero, Móstoles, Parla, Ensanche de Vallecas, Rivas, Butarque, El Cañaveral, Leganés, Pinto, Fuenlabrada and Valdemoro.
A figure that Health sources from the Community of Madrid transmit to La Vanguardia that is "absolutely false" while pointing out that, when a construction company finishes the work, "an assembly plan must be executed and the supplies must be registered, as well such as carrying out a series of bureaucratic procedures that sometimes delay the start-up and that do not depend on the Ministry".
The same sources, in fact, indicate that the construction works started this year on the Montecarmelo facilities, in the Fuencarral-El Pardo district; Butarque, in Villaverde, and in the Residencial Este de Parla are advancing at a "good pace." At the same time, they assure that the Las Tablas, Navalcarnero II and Parque Oeste Alcorcón projects are scheduled to be launched throughout this quarter.
Without leaving, precisely, Las Tablas, the neighbors have already lost count of the missed opening dates and that is why they do not believe, as the Minister of Health, Fátima Matute, recently announced, that, this time, they will have new doctors and pediatricians before the end of the year. The forecast that the Ministry speaks of, in fact, is not the initial one, which dates back to 2019 with an execution period of 18 months. Although the counselor's team justifies that these initial forecasts had to be "modified due to the pandemic", the regional government approved, for the first time, a budget item of more than 200,000 for the aforementioned health center project in 2006.
Something similar has happened with the health centers of Navalcarnero II or Parque del Oeste, in Alcorcón. Centers closed tight and "non-functional", as Más Madrid denounces. At the same time, new claims begin to accumulate, such as that of Tres Cantos, governed by the mayor of the PP, Jesús Moreno, who has requested a third health resource for the municipality due to the growth of the population in the town - from 52,978 inhabitants to 65,000. residents "in a short period of time" -.
"The propaganda for the start of construction of these centers is recurrent during the months prior to the regional elections in the Community of Madrid, but it all boils down to the installation of advertising posters and acts of laying the foundation stones with photos of the successive candidates and candidates of the Popular Party in the region," denounces the union Comisiones Obreras (CC.OO.).
This was recalled this Thursday by Más Madrid during the weekly plenary session in the regional Assembly in which the Minister of Health of the Community, Fátima Matute, praised the Budget of her area for 2024 since, for the first time, it has overcome the barrier of 10,000 million euros. An amount that, as stated by the opposition, is below what was actually spent in the years 2020 (10,611 million), 2021 (10,543 million) and 2022 (11,292 million) once the final execution is reviewed. "This shows that they are insufficient to meet the healthcare needs of the region," the unions add.
Matute focused on Primary Care, highlighting that it will have 2,572 million euros, which represents 25.3% of the area's funds, and once again recalled the "soon opening" of 19 promised health centers. Figures that Más Madrid co-spokesperson, Javier Padilla, firmly refutes, arguing that "the growth of Primary Care funds is, really, only 3% more than in 2022, when "there were health centers without doctors and strikes."
In line with the lack of resources, Padilla denounces that the Ayuso government "wants the problem of pressure on doctors to be resolved by pressure on nurses" while Madrid "consolidates itself as the autonomous community with "lower number of Primary Care nurses per inhabitant. Behind Ceuta, Melilla, the Balearic Islands or Murcia."
In his questioning in the Assembly, the co-spokesperson of Más Madrid denounced that Ayuso first squeezed the doctors to, now, "squeeze the nurses by considering them a sponge that can be filled with water and, once squeezed, return to soak it" when, in reality, "they are like oranges that, once the juice is removed, are something useless (...) Do not make juice with health professionals," he snapped at the industry advisor.
Matute, for his part, defended himself by alleging that "the lack of professionals is a common problem" throughout the national territory, stressing that the Ministry of Health should do something "beyond" a decree for emergencies that "does not ensures an increase in family places".
Meanwhile, the Association for the Defense of Public Health of Madrid (Adspm) considers that it is necessary to standardize the regional health budget to the average of the autonomous communities to respond in a reasonable way to the requirements of the population and end the lists. waiting time in Primary and Specialized Care.
The Adspm indicates that the budget for 2024 amounts to 1,467.50 euros per inhabitant, which is 21.37 euros per inhabitant more than in 2023, and well below the average of the autonomous communities last year (1,808.50 euros Per inhabitant).
This entity explains that 2,572 million euros will be allocated to Primary Care, which is 7 million more than what was spent in 2022, but this amount includes the expense made for prescriptions, so that if pharmaceutical expenses are discounted, the real percentage dedicated to Primary Care will be 10.03%, "a ridiculous amount" compared to the average of the autonomous communities (14.93% in 2022).
