Waiting list for internal medicine begins in Miranda due to staffing shortage

The Santiago Apóstol Regional Hospital serves thousands of people in and around Miranda, but sometimes it cannot cope. This leads to long waiting lists, as has happened over the past year in the specialty of internal medicine. According to data from the Ministry of Health, at the end of the 2022 academic year, there were 130 people pending consultation in this department, but in just twelve months this number has increased to about 240 patients, with an average delay time of about two months. This is the highest number of users waiting for an appointment in the last five years, as even in 2021, when the pandemic was emerging, the figure was lower.

The internal medicine waiting list has practically doubled and the reason is clear: staffing shortages. As reported by Health, the service has eight positions, but only five are fully covered, as one professional is on sick leave and two others are vacant. Of those posts awaiting the arrival of an expert, a proposal to appoint only one is pending. As far as the doctor who is not available due to his health reasons is concerned, the hospital is hopeful that it will not take much time to appoint him. In return and health they count on streamlining the work in the times to come.

However, the disadvantages of delay in consultation at the Santiago Apóstol Hospital do not only occur in the field of internal medicine. Among the various specialties treated at the Mirandés Center, digestive has also seen a significant increase in its waiting list. In December 2023, there were 214 people pending appointments in this department and the average delay time was about three months, whereas just a year ago there were less than 170 people in this position and they had to wait only 50 days. The latest data recorded is on top of all data recorded at the end of each financial year since 2019.

The problem affects dozens of Mirandese and others living in nearby small towns like Ángel. A resident of a town in the area told Diario de Burgos that he previously suffered from internal medical problems and is currently experiencing digestive deficiencies. In particular, he comments that he had to go to the hospital to “have his colon checked” because at that time he had “some polyps taken out which were not good and had to be returned five years later.” However, he received the appointment twelve months later than the one scheduled by his doctor and, moreover, it was postponed at the last minute because “one of the two doctors conducting the test is on leave.”

Angel is clearly uncomfortable with the treatment he is receiving from Health. As this patient describes, this is not a minor issue, because “Colon cancer has grown a lot and must be controlled within the time frame, you cannot wait an extra year and then suspend consultation ” His exhaustion is even greater because, as soon as he received notification that the visit to the digestion specialist was going to be postponed, he “filed a complaint and received the response that if something happens, we have to go to the emergency room.”

This resident of the Miranda region also reported that some professionals at the Santiago Apóstol Hospital told him that “it is not possible to refer to other centers because they must be saturated.”

Based on his experience, Engel confirms that the digestive service “was not adequate before and had a very long waiting list, but now having only one doctor has made it even worse” and assures that “if the appointment If there is a delay again” one will have to “look for alternatives outside the public service” as a matter of safety.