We read a headline in 20Minutes that says: “30% of the pediatric consultations of the community, without a specialist”. It refers to the community of Madrid, but this headline can be extended throughout our country without too many differences in the percentage.
In Babies and more we have already talked about the lack of pediatricians, before that of obstetricians, and in the future, what specialists will be missing? What we can see all the Spaniards, is that public health not only does not improve, but also decays.
But, Why are pediatricians missing?. There are several answers, but the president of the Association of Pediatrics in the Community of Madrid and Castilla-La Mancha, Teresa Muñoz, sums it up as follows: “There has been a lack of planning and forecasting due to the sudden increase in immigrants and the birth rate ”, as we said in the post Lack of pediatricians in Spain. This problem can be accentuated in the Madrid community with the opening of eight public hospitals next year, as pediatricians who work in the outpatients can request the transfer to the new centers because of their attractiveness in terms of work and infrastructure.
It is horrifying to hear (in this case read) that the Ministry of Health says there are no shortage of pediatricians, that there is one in each outpatient. We would like to know if the mouthpieces that release these niceties have children that have had to be attended by a family doctor who has been trained for two months instead of by a specialist who has been studying and specializing for four years or more.
It is estimated that about 200 pediatricians would have to be hired per community, having to resort to foreigners, to provide adequate health services to those under 14 years of age.
Fathers and mothers, let's complain, maybe we can take advantage of this moment for a new electoral promise.
