Healthcare professionals in Ceuta are standing firm. After more than a month and a half of tension caused by the crisis that began in July with the arrival of tens of thousands of people from Morocco, the Nursing Union (CEMSATSE), the largest representative in the Sectoral Board of the National Institute of Health Management (INGESA), has decided to raise the tone of the protest to show the “deterioration of public healthcare” that has worsened in the city.
The union will begin its protests this Thursday with a gathering at the doors of the University Hospital of Ceuta in an event held under the slogan: ‘For public healthcare, the dignity of professionals and patients,’ as revealed in a statement. Afterwards, another gathering is planned in front of the Territorial Directorate of Ingesa on Friday, September 18, and a healthcare strike for Thursday, September 24.
The “persistent indifference of the Ministry of Health leaves us no alternative but the most extreme conflict measure,” argues the union. It also expresses its “absolute rejection of the statements from the Ministry of Health, which seek to deny the emergency situation facing the public health system in the autonomous city.”
“Faced with what we consider an irresponsible stance detached from healthcare reality, CEMSATSE denies the ministerial position and announces the immediate activation of this schedule of mobilizations culminating in a healthcare strike in Ceuta on September 24,” it continues.
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Healthcare in Ceuta “is not only at its limit but has exceeded its operational capacity due to structural problems that the Ministry does not resolve and to which the collapse caused by assistance to immigrants from the massive July influx has been added,” it concluded.
From Ingesa, the picture is different: since the start of the crisis, the 175 hospital beds have been increased by the number of places, up to the current 16%. Hospital pressure has continued to decline in recent weeks. As of today, there are 21 immigrants admitted, four of whom suffer from chickenpox. It is also highlighted that 568 people have already been immunized, given that a total of 2,257 vaccines have been administered. Regarding the reinforcement of human resources, a budget of one million euros has been allocated to strengthen support contracts.
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