Residents of 18 villages in the Vall de Sió forced to travel to see the doctor due to lack of staff

The 18 villages of the Vall de Sió that are part of the Agramunt Basic Health Area (ABS) denounce that the lack of personnel has caused all the villages, except Agramunt, to be left without the presence of doctors.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
21 March 2023 Tuesday 08:46
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Residents of 18 villages in the Vall de Sió forced to travel to see the doctor due to lack of staff

The 18 villages of the Vall de Sió that are part of the Agramunt Basic Health Area (ABS) denounce that the lack of personnel has caused all the villages, except Agramunt, to be left without the presence of doctors. And it is that, beyond this ABS, they also have 5 and a half doctors, although for a year there have only been three working full-time and with reduced hours.

ABS Agramunt provides coverage to around 7,000 inhabitants of 18 towns belonging to the Urgell municipalities belonging to Agramunt, Ossó de Sió and Puigverd de Agramunt, as well as Preixens (Noguera) and Plans de Sió (Segarra).

ABS Agramunt has 5.5 doctors, but the march of professionals has meant that for a year the same volume of work has had to be assumed by 3 doctors who work full-time and another with reduced hours. The mayoress of Agramunt, Sílvia Fernández, explained that this work overload has left professionals "exhausted" and that the lack of personnel means that face-to-face medical services have stopped being provided in all towns except Agramunt.

Faced with this situation, the mayors of the towns of the ABS Agramunt demand that the Department of Health solve the lack of personnel and that they comply with the corresponding doctors in order to recover care in all the towns. In addition, Fernández has pointed out that an important part of the residents of these municipalities are older people who are now neglected due to the difficulties of having to travel to Agramunt to go to the doctor.

The municipalities have already reported this problem to Health, although the Department says that they cannot find professionals. The mayors want the manifesto to also serve to inform the public about this situation and have started a collection of signatures so that the residents support the manifesto that will last until March 31.

In the case of Preixens, in one legislature it has gone from having face-to-face medical service in the town and in the municipalities of Pradell and Las Ventoses, to not having it. "People are very angry, they say that we cannot allow it because this makes them very dependent," lamented its mayor, Joan Eroles.

For his part, the mayor of Ossó de Sió, Antoni Gilabert, explained that a few weeks ago they were left without a doctor, which took them by surprise. In addition, he has added that "For the elderly it is a great concern" due to the difficulties involved in having to travel to Agramunt. "Let's see if we force ourselves and that they don't abandon us to these towns because otherwise it will favor depopulation," he affirmed.