The Assembly of Extremadura has given the green light this Wednesday, with the unanimous support of all groups, to the establishment of a permanent working group within the Health and Dependency Care Commission, focused on monitoring health waitlists.
The initiative, promoted by the Parliamentary Group Unidas por Extremadura, has received the support of PP, PSOE, Vox, and Unidas during the session of the aforementioned commission, where the functions and the mode of operation of this new body have been specified.
According to the president of the commission, Victoria Bazaga, the working group will prepare a report of conclusions on health waitlists every six months. This document will be based on the information that the Junta de Extremadura sends periodically, as well as any other documentation that may be requested through the mechanisms provided in the Chamber's regulations.
With that information, the speakers will draft the report that will be submitted to the commission. This semiannual report will be drafted from a "technical" perspective and will include "objective" data on the evolution of the waitlists, after examining the official figures published.
Once completed, the report will be sent to all members of the commission and to the Presidency of the Chamber, which will disseminate it through the website of the Assembly of Extremadura, in order to ensure the publicity of its conclusions.
Regarding the composition, the working group will consist of one deputy designated by each parliamentary group. The parliamentarian from the group that holds the presidency of the commission will assume the coordination of the work. In the event of internal voting, the vote will be weighted, and the group will have the technical support of the commission's lawyer.
Bazaga has emphasized that the meetings will be held behind closed doors, although all sessions will be recorded. The transcription of these sessions, along with the documents and work generated, will be part of the minutes of each meeting. These minutes, signed by all attendees, will be available to all members of the commission.
The working group will meet as many times as necessary, either at the call of the presidency of the commission, by initiative of the group itself, or at the request of any of the parliamentary groups represented. For any operational doubts that may arise, the provisions established in the regulations of the Chamber or the agreements adopted by the commission will apply.
After presenting these issues, the president of the Commission of Health and Care for Dependency has given the floor to the groups, which have expressed their support for the creation of the working group.
The most extensive intervention has been that of the socialist deputy Isabel Gil Rosiña, who has indicated that "it would have been desirable" for the groups that support the government to have shown "minimum interest" so that the constitution of this working group could have occurred earlier and not "a few days before the end of the current session period."
The president of the Commission of Health and Care for Dependency has recalled that in the Assembly there are already three precedents of similar bodies to study the situation of waiting lists. In 2015 and 2020, working groups were created at the proposal of the Socialist Parliamentary Group, while in 2024 another was promoted at the request of the Parliamentary Group Unidas por Extremadura.