The Minister of Health of the Community of Madrid, Enrique Ruiz Escudero, on Tuesday welcomed the principle of the agreement reached with the strike committee to suspend for 48 hours the indefinite pause that had been called to protest against the change in the working conditions of the professionals who will provide service in the 80 24-hour assistance centers that will cover out-of-hospital emergency care starting this Thursday.
In statements to the media at the Gregorio Marañón Hospital, where the first Conference of the Network of Advanced Therapies of the Community of Madrid was inaugurated, the head of the Madrid Department of Health highlighted the “good news” that the suspension of the strike indefinitely and the progress of negotiations.
The Ministry of Health and the five organizations that are part of the Department of Health (Amyts, Satse, CC.OO., UGT and the Professional Union CSIT) yesterday reached an agreement on the new organizational and remuneration model for Primary Care Professionals and Summa 112 which will provide assistance in the event of an out-of-hospital emergency.
What is possible after a meeting that lasted more than seven hours, in which the demands of the trade unions were addressed point by point to advance on issues such as the improvement of the working conditions of the almost 700 Primary Care professionals and Summa 112 which will deal with extra emergencies. – hospital.
“There has been progress in the working conditions of workers. Logically, when you have to rethink a care offer, there are movements at that level and also with the reopening of more centers ”, Escudero pointed out.
The meeting dealt with the organization and remuneration plan of the Ministry and the complaints presented by the five trade union organizations. “These negotiations at the sector table are never easy. I believe that the work of the Deputy Advisor and the Director General of Human Resources is treated with great intensity and detail point by point and some issues are more deeply rooted. With the document that they presented on Friday, we saw that there were ways to reach that agreement, which we hope will be ratified and that we will start implementing it on Thursday, ”the adviser explained.
Following the negotiations, a document of the acquired commitments was reached which must be ratified by the trade unions, once they have been evaluated with their internal bodies. Having consulted the workers, the Ministry and the strike committee will meet again next Wednesday, 26, starting at 11 am, to continue to negotiate “with the workers’ mandate”. According to the unions, a two-month period of follow-up and commitment will therefore open.
The Madrid Health Officer avoided giving details on the content of this agreement principle out of respect for the strike committee. “The trade unions have asked us not to convey what the conclusions were, they will deal with them internally and soon we will be able to anticipate them”, he indicated.
In any case, Escudero reiterated that the 24-hour hours of these resources will be covered by the more than 13,600 primary care professionals and no new hires will be made. “The important point is that it depends on primary care. This allows us that for those points where additional days need to be covered, we can do it with Primary Care staff, which logically the number is much higher than the SAR. This is an important leap and is what will allow us to provide that coverage, ”he specified.
The councilor indicated that he hopes in this way that the principle of the agreement will be ratified by the workers and from Thursday he can start the new model of reorganization of outpatient care. “I am grateful that I was able to take this step because it was a necessity and above all with the horizon that now presents itself to us for the winter”, he indicated about the foreseeable rebound of respiratory infections after two years of the Covid-19 pandemic. .
