The crucial Hospital Vega Baja is on the brink of collapse amid a spiralling number of flu patients, unions have warned.
According to SATSE, which represents nurses in and around the expat haven of Orihuela, the situation in the Emergency Department is both ‘critical’ and ‘unsustainable’.
The crisis, they say, is being driven by a rapid spike in acute respiratory infections combined with a severe lack of extra staff from the regional health department, with one spokesperson branding the situation ‘ridiculous.’
On Tuesday, 36 patients were waiting in the Emergency Observation Unit for hospital admission, with some facing waits of up to 73 hours to be transferred to a ward.
The situation affects the entire health district, which covers Orihuela and surrounding municipalities including Almoradí, Callosa de Segura, Bigastro, Jacarilla, Benejúzar, Redován, Cox, Rafal, Granja de Rocamora, Dolores, Catral, Albatera, Benferri, Algorfa, Daya Nueva and Daya Vieja.
According to SATSE, the incidence of acute respiratory infection has soared within just two weeks, first from 600 to 800 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, then to 1,000 per 100,000.
This mirrors the pattern seen before the January healthcare collapse, when the department reached 1,000–1,200 cases and Emergency services were completely overwhelmed.
SATSE has issued four immediate demands to the regional health authority:
- Immediate and sufficient reinforcement of nursing staff in Emergency
- Urgent extension of temporary staffing contracts in proportion to real workload
- A full review of resource allocation criteria to prevent disparities between departments
- Structural, long-term measures to stop the crisis repeating each winter
Despite repeated warnings of another imminent collapse, the Conselleria de Sanidad has allocated only four temporary work contracts to the Orihuela department.
SATSE calls this number ‘ridiculous’ and ‘absolutely insufficient’, pointing out that Elche received 18 such contracts.
The imbalance, they say, shows a ‘lack of institutional responsibility and respect for the residents of Orihuela’, who deserve the same level of protection as any other health district in the Valencian Community.
SATSE emphasised that the local hospital management is not to blame, acknowledging the department is making a ‘notable effort’ with the limited resources it has.
The overload, they stress, stems from a systemic lack of resources and decisive action from the regional health authorities, which ‘continue to fail to provide the reinforcements necessary to deal with real healthcare pressure’.
It comes after the incidence rate of flu reached epidemic threshold in Andalucia this week.
According to regional health minister Antonio Sanz, the incidence rate of the illness across the whole region (which has a population of 8.7 million) currently sits at 33.5 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, he said face masks in health settings are recommended, but stopped short of making them mandatory, leaving it up to centres and hospitals to make their own rulings.
Murcia, meanwhile, which sits between Andalucia and the southern Costa Blanca (where Orihuela is located), brought in mandatory face masks in all health settings last week.
