He's not quite all off...

Thanks for asking!

...further to Prospero's item below about being away for a few days, etc. - we can warn you that he's back, at least part of the time. A quick report for those who have posted kind questions and good wishes (yes, Prosp hasn't been werry well) on Facebook and other social media (NOT Twitter), for those who didn't know and for those who don't give a damn anyway: having finally been dragged to the doctor by friends who care, via the emergency (urgencias) department at La Línea hospital, Prosp was seen by a brand new triage person (two days into his ungrateful job) and eventually into the presence of a very nice looking doctor by the name of Laura (had Prosp been feeling better, he would have twirled his newly-grown moustache - to little effect, no doubt). This is a long story to be cut short::>>>

Whatever happened to the new La Línea Hospital?

Demo in April
(Banner reads: Where's the
hospital money gone?)

LA LÍNEA  The new hospital was supposed to be operational towards the end of 2012 but building work came to a stop over a year ago. There was a massive demonstration on April 25 this year. It would seem that a facility created to take care of the health of well over 100,000 residents of Jimena, Castellar, San Roque and La Línea, in the main but in fact covering the Eastern end of the Campo de Gibraltar, has become a pawn in the increasingly shameful game of ping-pong between the two main parties, PP and PSOE. It was the former that got things started during the notorious mayorship of one Alejandro Sánchez García (the same one who wanted to establish a toll at the Gibraltar frontier), who took over from his predecessor when the latter was removed by the courts. Sánchez was turfed out at local elections in 2011 by a victory of the PSOE, with Gemma Araujo as Mayor. In the playground atmosphere of local (and national) politics*, the hospital was kicked into touch, no doubt because it had been a PP project to start with.>>>

First kidney cross-transplants take place in Andalucía

ANDALUCÍA Two regional hospitals, Puerta del Mar in Cádiz and the Regional in Málaga, recently performed the first successful kidney transplant using living donors at two separate entities several hundred kilometers apart. The cross-transplant took place between two couples, one from Cádiz, the other from Málaga, the women of which had a serious kidney failure. The woman from Cádiz, 57, had been on haemodialysis since 1994. Her husband, 60, was the donor for the female patient in Málaga. The woman in Málaga, 55,>>>

New techniques against glaucoma are applied in Algeciras

New system being applied at
Punta de Europa Hospital

ALGECIRAS The Punta de Europa Hospital's ophthalmology department recently began applying a very new technique to combat a common type of glaucoma, which is considered difficult to treat because it presents considerable resistance to the reduction of intra-ocular pressure as treated with traditional clinical treatment as with surgery. Glaucoma is an illness that affects the optical nerve and can lead to blindness; there are several types. The new system is reportedly more efficient and presents less secondary complications. Four patients underwent the new technique at the hospital recently and all are reported as progressing well.

Over 3000 rally to demand completion of hospital

Meeting in the square

LA LÍNEA Over three thousand people attended a rally yesterday evening near the old hospital then marched to the main square, Plaza de la Constitución, to demand completion of the new hospital, work on which has been stopped for a year (Our item here). Heading the march were numerous mothers with prams, plus members of the Multiple Sclerosis in wheelchairs, as well as organizers belonging to the Plataforma en Defensa del Hospital. Present, too, were several area politicians, including Mayors Gemma Araujo (La Línea), Guillermo Ruiz (Jimena) and Juan Casanova (Castellar). These three municipalities are the most impacted by the lack of an up-to-date hospital that was announced several years ago and is at the 'skeleton' stage of construction. One comment from a demonstrator: "The politicians are eating it (the money) all up and then tell us there's no funding for it. How can they start something with a full budget, and then say there's no more money?"

Demonstration against work stoppage at hospital planned for April 25

(Photo: europasur.es)

LA LÍNEA The pressure group calling for work on the hospital to be finished, Plataforma en Defensa del Hospital, has called for a demonstration on Thursday, April 25, starting at 7.30 pm 'to give people the chance to come after work'. The organizers are expecting attendance from the area's political parties, politicians, consumer organizations and the general public from places such as Jimena and Castellar, from where many patients are derived to the current hospital in La Línea, which is in a 'neglected and ruinous state'. (The health service of Andalucía allows a choice of hospital and surgeons from within it, so many people choose the Punta de Europa hospital in Algeciras instead.) The demo will begin at the municipal hospital to avoid traffic cuts on Menéndez Pelayo Avenue in case of emergencies, and will walk along Gómez Ulloa, Gibraltar, Mateo Inurria and Clavel Streets to the main square, Plaza de la Constitución. The Plataforma's next meeting is on April 1 at 6.30 pm to continue plans for the demo itself and spreading information about it.

Military hospital has 400 employees for an average 2.5 patients daily

A vast empty property

SAN FERNANDO The Ministry of Defense has admitted the proportion of patients to staff is unsustainable. The Hospital Básico de la Defensa-San Carlos, located on La Isla, cost over €25million in 2012. Medical staff at the hospital is principally military - 46 physicians, eight nurses, four pharmacists and two psychologists - but personnel consists of another 351 workers. Occupation is just 0.49% of capacity. These are the official figures from Defence. The fact is that the ministry has little interest in keeping the hospital going any longer, so it is likely to close soon,>>>

Will pensioners have to pay for medication in hospital?

Seriously ill patients will have to pay up to €4.13 at hospital pharmacies · Some will be 'totally exempt', says Minister · Mammograms will continue to be considered 'basic services'

MADRID Many of the medication used for treatment in hospital are very expensive. In some cases they can reach €2,400 but even these will be subject to price reductions, according to a recent parliamentary statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services, Ana Mato. Patients will not have to pay more than €4,13, she said in response to a question from a member. The reasoning behind the measure, she said, is to equalise the matter among her ministries to avoid possible legal interpretations of recently passed laws aimed at reducing costs and guaranteeing Social Security services in the future. (A more detailed article on this subject will soon be available on SpainInformer.com)

Health service cuts 71 top jobs

Hospitals in Andalucía

Andalucía concentrates hospital and health centre management for savings of €4.9 million

SEVILLA It is not much more than a gesture in the grand scheme of Spanish anti-deficit cutbacks, but it is a necessary one. T&he health system of Andalucía (SAS, or Servicio Andaluz de Salud) announced at a press conference last week that it would be eliminating 71 top jobs from its structure, and management of three foundations will be conjoined for savings. According to the Councillor for Health, María Jesús Montero, and the head of SAS, José Luis Gutiérrez, the measures will mean considerably more work for the remaining executives but it will save almost €5million a year. Aside from direct management positions in the elimination stakes, there are also a number of public companies (the term refers to companies set up by official government agencies of all levels, not to companies as understood in the US and UK, for example) that will be undergoing similar sacrifices. COMING SOON: SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION>>>

Why has work on the new La Línea hospital stopped?

Nobody at work, and it's not Sunday
(Photo: europasur.es)

Old hospital not fit for purpose
LA LÍNEA Work on the vital new area hospital has stopped, according to a group called Plataforma Cívica en Defensa del Hospital (PCDH), which complains also of the way patients are treated in triage at the old hospital, where renovation work is still being carried out on a building that is no longer fit for purpose. They are also concerned about the non-appearance of the health centre supposedly to be opened in the southern are of town. Almost two years ago, we were told that work would not be delayed by cuts - promises unkept? (See item here.)

Born to save her brother

Photo: elmundo.es

SEVILLA (Agencies) Little Estrella (Star - lovely name) was born so the doctors could use the blood from her umbilical chord to save her brother Antonio's life, 6, who needed a bone marrow transplant. Estrella, born  on February 11, was genetically selected to be totally compatible with her brother. After the operation carried out at the Virgen del Rocío Hospital in Seville, brother and sister are back home, where Antonio can no0w lead a perfectly normal life after recovering from bone marrow aplasia, an otherwise incurable disease that prevents healthy cells from being produced. The Virgen del Rocío Hospital is one of very few centres that can perform the kind of genetic selection procedure necessary for these types of hereditary diseases.

Woman denounces hospital for using 'inappropriate' instruments

ALGECIRAS (Agencies) An Algeciras resident has denounced the Punta de Europa Hospital for damages received as the result of an operation carried out with the proper instruments. She alleges that she was admitted for surgery to remove a polyp, which, owing to her allegations, caused vaginal lesions as well as now-constant headaches and sickness presumably because of inadequate or inappropriate anaesthesia. Among other things, she says that, having been on the waiting list for over three months, and given a surgery date for last Friday, when she turned up she was told by the doctor that he had good news and bad news. The good news was that the polyp was not malignant, and the bad news, that surgery could not proceed because the right equipment was not available; they had been waiting for it for three months. Nevertheless, she was taken into the operating room, where the surgery went ahead. She and her family now ask themselves, how it is possible that the surgery went ahead if the proper instruments were not available. The matter is now in the hands of Court Number 1 in Algeciras.

Nice job if you can get it

Dr. Ricard Gutiérrez Martí

BARCELONA (Agencies) Ricard Gutiérrez Martí, was co-Managing Director of the Sant Pau hospital in Barcelona between 2001 and 2004. However, he continued to be paid his full salary -between €80,000 and €110,000 per year- for the following seven years. He was not made redundant until last year, when he received an additional indemnity od €158,569.63, according to the foundation that runs the hospital. Having worked a mere three years at the hospital, Gutiérrez Martí received a total of over one million euros.>>>

Private hospital 'parked'

LA LÍNEA (Agencies) The private hospital that was planned for La Línea with much fanfare, is now 'parked'. José Manuel García, head of Inemsa XXI, the company whose project it was, announced recently that while it "is not scrapped, it is paralysed." The new local government offered the company a different piece of land, changing from a location by the municipal gardens to another in the San Felipe district. Although García says the new location "looks better", he adds that it is non-viable because "it means doing all the paperwork and plans again," in which the company "has already invested half a million euros, which we don't want to lose."

¿Dónde le duele?

LA LÍNEA (Europa Sur) It's a brilliant idea. If you don't know what the title means, you can use the pictogram designed by two young nurses at the La Línea Hospital.  Amanda Muñiz, 23, and Óscar Carretero, 29, work in the Emergency unit at the hospital, where crucial questions are asked as a patient is brought in to triage. But if the patient has a speech impediment or doesn't understand Spanish, those crucial minutes can have a drastic result. So an idea was born. There are tables of words in different languages, translated, but pictures are much quicker. ¿Dónde le duele? becomes Where does it hurt? in seconds rather than minutes. Their idea has been taken up by the health service of Andalucía, and may well expand to others throughout the country. Now then, can you find ¿Está embarazada? on the chart? Don't be embarrassed if you can't...

Two organ donors enable ten transplants

Punta de Europa Hospital, Algeciras

ALGECIRAS (Agencies) The families of two separate donors recently enabled two life-saving transplants and an improvement in quality of life for another eight. In the first half of July, the Punta de Europa Hospital in Algeciras obtained permission from relatives that resulted in two liver transplants, four kidneys and four cornea operations at various hospitals in the province and in Andalucía. Luis Vallejo, head transplant coordinator for the region, said that these donations put into operation a network of 40 health workers in different areas, all of whom saw this as a wonderful opportunity to improve the lives of many patients. He also thanked the families concerned, "who made a difficult decision in painful circumstances." Vallejo also called on others to consider becoming organ donors "as you never know when one might be needed." (Do you know how to become an organ donor in Spain? Watch this space.) So far this year, the various health facilities in the Campo de Gibraltar have registered five donations of organs and tissue, which is an improvement on the same period last year and is expected to increase even further by the end of the year. As to the province as a whole,>>>

Man becomes quadriplegic four days after beating

ALGECIRAS (Agencies) A 52 year old man, M.F.N., was beaten severely in the early hours of July 3, when he was walking in the cool along Paseo de la Cornisa (photo), near the La Terraza bar. His family is looking into denouncing the Punta de Europa Hospital, which they consider to have been negligent during the first days after the attack, because he was treated only with anti-inflammatory drugs. The attack occurred at 1.40 in the morning, the result of a mugging. The alleged aggressor, identified as D.J.J. threatened to kill the victim if he didn't hand over his money. When M.F.N. said he wasn't carrying any at all, he was hit in the face, causing him to fall to the ground, which the attacker used to register his pockets while he continued to hit him and demand all his belongings. Grabbing several bracelets and a silver pendant, D.J.J. ran off, still threatening the victim. There were people in the vicinity but none offered to help, except the security guard at the bar nearby, who called the police and ambulance service. But the ambulance never turned up,>>>

New hospital 40% built

(Photo: Europa Sur)

LA LINEA (Agencies) Work on the new hospital being built by the Junta de Andalucía on the Ronda Norte is about 40% completed, according to Europa Sur. Things are on schedule, so the health authorities are maintaining their forecast that it should be finished by the end of 2012, as it was announced when work started in November 2009. When the building itself is finished, installation of equipment is next in line; after that comes the transfer of patients and staff, which will be done in phases so as not to interrupt health services to the area at any time.>>>

Benefits denied to baby born without eyes

Photo: algecirasinformacion.net

ALGECIRAS (Agencies) Last July we reported on the birth of two babies born without eyes at the Punta de Europa Hospital. Now we hear that one of them has been denied an Ayuda de Dependencia allowance by the Junta de Andalucía, despite the fact that the handicap has been calculated at 80%. The rare disease (one in 20,000 births), ocular agenesis, is congenital and does not allow the eyeballs to develop. There is no word from medical authorities as to why there were two cases at about the same time at the same hospital. Nor is there any explanation at present about why the allowance was denied. The baby's family is now seeking advice and help as to how to proceed.

Gibraltar's first swine flu death

GIBRALTAR (GibChronicle) A local man has died from swine flu, it emerged today. This is the first such death in Gibraltar. The man, in his early 50s was one of two cases of otherwise healthy people which led to a public health alert in which the authorities urged vulnerable persons in particular to have a swine flu jab. A fortnight ago the GHA said that tests results on two patients who were being treated by the Hospital (photo) over a few weeks for severe lung inflammation had proved positive as Swine Flu with lung complications.
The GHA stated that these two patients were not in the identified risk group published by the GHA in October 2010 and January 2011. One patient made a full recovery.>