The PSOE of Cantabria has denounced "a political hunt" directed against its president and former Minister of Health, María Luisa Real, and has held the regional government of the PP, chaired by María José Sáenz de Buruaga, responsible for "putting in the crosshairs" those who defend public health.
This has been stated by its spokesperson, Ainoa Quiñones, after the information published this Sunday by El Diario Montañés about the investigation opened against Real for possible false appointments in her medical agenda and the PP's request for her "immediate" dismissal as president of the Cantabrian socialists.
In a press release, Quiñones has questioned the actions of the Management of the Cantabrian Health Service and the public dissemination of "an anonymous complaint" and the opening of an investigation "without it being brought to the attention of the investigated person."
The socialist leader has come to the defense of the former minister and has maintained that "no one who knows her can believe that she makes appointments to not attend to patients, because those who know her as a healthcare professional know that what she does is the opposite, work more."
In this regard, she has indicated that "the facts they denounce are that the IT services acknowledge that there are time records outside of her working hours at the health center itself."
Patient follow-up and use of the agenda
For the socialist spokesperson, "as they themselves acknowledge, the IT system shows that she makes appointments outside of her working hours or sets reminders in the agenda with which she follows up on patients."
"What Luisa Real does in her agenda is follow up on patients and set appointments for free availability, which as its name indicates, are for free availability, to keep track of each patient's clinical history. That is what the Buruaga government says it is investigating," she has pointed out.
In her opinion, "before launching accusations or fueling suspicions about a healthcare professional," what is appropriate is "to clarify the facts, guarantee their rights, and act with rigor." In the same vein, she has warned that "one cannot turn a complaint that they themselves acknowledge cannot be substantiated into a public condemnation."
"Orchestrated discredit campaign" and political context
Quiñones has added that the president of the PSOE is studying the actions to take "to defend her honor against this orchestrated discredit campaign."
According to the spokesperson, the Government of Buruaga, through the Cantabrian Health Service, "has been cooking this news since September, first sowing doubt to now put a name to it."
She has insisted that "her only objective with this complaint is to run a smokescreen to cover up the scandals of her healthcare privatization," and has denounced that "they go chapter by chapter to try to give credibility to this fable to attempt to cover the shames of their cuts and privatizations."
The socialist leader has also emphasized that "this controversy coincides first with the referrals of patients to private healthcare and now with a government in disarray."
At this point, she has recalled that "first an anonymous complaint was published and, a month later, when the Government of Buruaga is going through a political situation marked by the departures of public officials to Madrid, a name and surname are put to the investigated professional. The sequence of events leaves no room for doubt," she has stated.
In her opinion, "everything evidences the political intent of the complaint and the media intent of its dissemination."
Criticism of healthcare policy and defense of Real's trajectory
The spokesperson for the PSOE of Cantabria has linked "this fabricated controversy" with the criticisms of the healthcare policy of the Government of María José Sáenz de Buruaga, whom she accuses of "promoting cuts, deteriorating public healthcare, and favoring the privatization of healthcare assistance."
She has emphasized that "no matter how much Buruaga tries to divert attention, Cantabrians know what her healthcare model is. She already applied it when she was a counselor and is applying it again as president: more pressure on public healthcare and more investment in private healthcare."
Quiñones has warned that "the public healthcare of Cantabria is at risk" and has expressed her "concern" that the "professional tranquility and reputation of those who defend it, like Luisa, who are being politically pursued, may also be at risk."
She has stressed that "healthcare professionals need guarantees, respect, and rigorous procedures, not suspicions spread prematurely," and has considered it "unacceptable" to turn "those who think differently into targets of public suspicion."
In her intervention, she added that "Cantabria deserves a Government that defends its public services and respects those who work for them, not a policy of pointing fingers that ends up harming both people and trust in institutions."
Finally, Ainoa Quiñones has highlighted the "extraordinary professional trajectory and the human quality of Luisa Real," recalling her time as Minister of Health and General Director of the Cantabrian Institute of Social Services (ICASS), when the system of the Dependency Law was deployed in Cantabria.
She concluded by emphasizing that "Luisa Real has dedicated her life to public service and public health. Even being able to retire, she has decided to continue working with the same commitment she has always demonstrated."