The Nursing Union (SATSE) has filed formal complaints with the Labor Inspectorate and various health managements regarding situations of "extreme and unbearable heat" in certain healthcare centers, where maximum temperatures set by regulations for performing work activities under adequate and safe conditions are being exceeded.
In an informational note, SATSE details that temperatures have reached over 30ºC in some hospitalization wards, Emergency services, and rehabilitation areas. According to the organization, these incidents have been detected in centers across different autonomous communities, including the Basque Country, Andalusia, Galicia, Cantabria, Castilla y León, Navarra, Murcia, and the Canary Islands, among others.
The union specifically cites several centers in the provinces of Ourense (Galicia), Salamanca (Castilla y León), and Álava (Basque Country), where readings above 29ºC and 30ºC have been recorded, far exceeding the margins considered safe for performing work.
All of this occurs despite Spanish legislation establishing that, in spaces intended for sedentary work, such as medical consultations, the ambient temperature should be maintained between 17ºC and 27ºC, while in areas where light work is performed, such as hospital wards, the values should be between 14ºC and 25ºC.
The trade union emphasizes that hospitals and health centers constitute "particularly vulnerable" work environments, as they concentrate elderly individuals and/or those with multiple pathologies and complications. These circumstances, it warns, significantly increase the risks associated with prolonged exposure to high temperatures.
INVESTMENT IN AIR CONDITIONING
In light of this scenario, SATSE demands that the various Health Departments increase investment in air conditioning systems and their maintenance, in order to ensure that all healthcare centers have adequate thermal conditions, especially in anticipation of a summer expected to be warmer than usual.
The Ministry of Health, in coordination with the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET), has warned of up to a 70 percent probability that this summer will be hotter than normal, representing a "serious threat" to public health, especially since "it's not only hotter, but it arrives earlier and lasts longer."
Despite the union's claims and the guidelines set by state agencies, SATSE denounces that certain health administrations are "ignoring" the recommendations included in documents such as the National Plan for Preventive Actions on the Effects of Excess Temperatures on Health 2026, which emphasizes the obligation to ensure an adequate temperature in all workplaces, or Royal Decree 4/2023, which obliges the adoption of specific measures to protect workers from extreme temperatures.
Along these lines, the Nursing Union maintains that the problems suffered by various hospitals and health centers are due to a "lack of adequate planning and investment" by the responsible health services. "This reality causes centers to not have adequate air conditioning systems or to not carry out the necessary maintenance work on equipment in a timely manner. We have buildings with very old infrastructures that are not well suited to their current use," it stated.
SATSE also indicates that it has received numerous complaints from professionals who have been forced to purchase fans out of their own pocket to be able to carry out their work in minimally acceptable conditions, as well as complaints from patients' families. There have also been cases where the only response offered by those in charge of the centers has been to "close the windows and lower the blinds as much as possible."