Costa News Spain Breaking News | English News in Spain.
Adam Husicka
According to local unions, MALAGA’S Regional Hospital faces a serious crisis in its Intensive Care Unit due to a critical lack of nursing staff.
Nursing groups PEPA (Plataforma Enfermera por AndaluciaSatse () and Satse claim that the shortage of staff is dangerous and puts lives in danger.
In only four months, more than 2,700 nursing-hours were uncovered in adult ICU.
PEPA estimates that if there is no action, this number will increase to more than 4,500 hours by September’s end.
The unions claim that the hospital saved money by cutting the number of full-time nurses from the staff.
Nurses are forced to work two shifts, or even leave their shifts unattended. This has a negative impact on the quality of care.
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PEPA accuses the hospital and Andalusian healthcare service of deliberately underfunding, causing services to be pushed close to collapse while private companies profit.
The platform stated that it was unacceptable to cut essential human resources from the ICU in a top-tier facility, which treats highly complex patients.
According to experts, the ratio of nurses per patient in ICUs is now 1:4, which is far higher than the national and international standard 1:1.
The ICU was completely blocked on Monday and Tuesday due to the absence of three nurses during a recent overnight shift.
The staff was understaffed, so they were forced to reduce the number of beds from 44 to 36 to accommodate four patients who arrived in a critical condition.
The situation was made worse when a patient who was critically ill had to be moved for a heart-transplant the following morning. However, the supervisor on call had not been notified in advance. Staff filed a formal complaint the same evening, warning about dangerous conditions.
Satse, a major nursing union, claims that the hospital can’t function with staff working endless overtime. They are calling for a realistic staffing plan, based upon patient needs and health guidelines.
In spite of this, the hospital insists that the incident is a rare occurrence and was handled with the appropriate safety precautions.
The heart transplant was carried out without incident and in accordance with all safety protocols.
Now, hospital officials are reviewing their internal communications procedures to improve the future.
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