The Minister of Health, Mónica García, has stressed this Thursday that each sick leave is backed by a healthcare professional who signs it and has harshly criticized the president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, for labeling both doctors and workers themselves as "fraud".
"Mr. Feijóo doesn't stop putting his foot in it, but I don't think it's a mistake. I think they deeply believe, in their DNA, that there is indeed fraud," the minister stated in an interview on the program 'Mañaneros 360', on TVE, as reported by Europa Press.
Along these lines, García insisted that behind each sick leave report there is a doctor who authorizes it, so it is a regulated medical act. "So, what is being accused is the professionals of that fraud," she warned, reproaching the opposition leader for casting suspicion on the entire group.
Mónica García rejected that Feijóo's statements could be interpreted as a simple slip and maintains that the popular leader takes for granted that not only doctors commit fraud, but that many citizens request sick leave because they "feel like it". "Even if the Popular Party tries to save Feijóo's blunders, this is what awaits us if they govern," she warned.
Beyond the exchange of statements, the head of Health asked to focus the debate on the causes that lead the population to fall ill. She pointed out that "surely many due to working conditions and we have also detected that housing is a factor, a social determinant of health, a top priority right now at this moment," she stated, demanding policies that address these factors.
Likewise, the minister called for studying why the duration of many medical leaves is prolonged. At this point, she pointed directly to the Community of Madrid and its president. "Surely Mrs. Ayuso is responsible for that million people in the Community of Madrid who are on a waiting list waiting to be diagnosed, treated, seen by a specialist or operated on," she lamented, linking the delays in Madrid's healthcare system with the increase in temporary disability periods.