The first vice president and counselor of the Presidency, Health, and Emergencies, Antonio Sanz, has held this Thursday the Minister of Health, Mónica García, responsible for "loading" the Andalusian public health system with "60,000 canceled procedures," pointing out as the cause the consequences of the doctors' strike, who have now announced a new indefinite strike starting on October 28.
The Medical Union of Andalusia (SMA) has ratified that it joins this new strike call, despite having signed an agreement with the Junta in July in which the doctors committed not to support a new strike.
In response to a question from the PSOE about the situation of waiting lists in the plenary session of the regional Parliament, Sanz replied: "If you are concerned about the waiting lists, tell the minister to negotiate once and for all with the doctors." The counselor reproached the socialists that "While the PSOE was in government, it simply hid the reality," referring to the data on healthcare delays.
The health official insisted that "Now --the counselor reproached-- we are burdened with 60,000 procedures that are canceled due to a strike because of a minister who does not sit down with the doctors."
Sanz detailed the impact of the strike by stating: "Yes, 25,000 surgical interventions that have been suspended because of the minister. No more and no less than half a million consultations with specialists that have had to be rescheduled because of the minister; 100,000 diagnostic tests that have had to be changed in date because the minister continues not to negotiate with the doctors."
From the Socialist Group, they have replied accusing the Andalusian Executive of "hiding the data" and lacking transparency. They questioned: "Why don't they publish the waiting lists? Or is it that they haven't had time to dress them up like the president of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, does in healthcare? If the data were what you say, the waiting lists would be at the traffic lights of all cities."