by The workers of the public health de Catalunya took to the streets again this Wednesday to defend the main pillar of the welfare state. It’s the second big strike in the last four years in the territory (in 2018 there was one but only in primary care, while hospitals also participated in this one), and it will continue, at least until tomorrow Thursday.
In Barcelona they took place this Wednesday two events: one for doctors, convened by Metges de Catalunya and which brought together 9,500 doctors, and another for teachers and other health profiles which brought together some 6,500 people.
These are the faces of some of those who mobilized during the first of the two days of strike called.
Rocío Sánchez: “Doctors and nurses have the same problem”
“We are here to support quality public health”, affirms with force Rocio Sanchez, Nurse CAP Sarrià, in Barcelona. Sánchez participates in the demonstration of Metges de Catalunya (MC), the main medical union, in which he also there are more nurses. While mobilizing at the headquarters of the Ministry of Health, in Les Corts, at the other end of the city, in Plaça de Sant Jaume, another manifestation of teachers and other health profiles that they are not doctors (and that they are summoned, the latter, by minority unions).
Sánchez regrets this separation. “We separate the ‘manis’, but with the same objective. We are all health workers and we all have the same problems”, says this nurse who is harshly burdening the bureaucracy which embraces primary care and takes up 40% of a doctor’s or nurse’s working day. “We studied a lot to do face-to-face work and without as many computers”, Sanchez criticizes. recognize that more and more patients “complain” and that the toilets no longer have the “recognition” they received during the pandemic. “And the youth goes to work”, concludes.
Marina Gual: “I was fired during my pregnancy”
In case of Marine Gual, CAP Sant Martí, illustrates the precariousness from the Catalan Health Institute (ICS). It happened in May of last year. “I was sick leave for professional risks, to be pregnant, and they told me that my post was jumping because I was acting”, says this woman from the heart of the demonstration. “I was four months without a contract.”
That’s why this Wednesday, he decided to strike and demonstrate, while pushing his son’s car. “I am here so that we have decent contracts. We are not a number,” he says. Gual says he loves his job, but the conditions they make everything more difficult. “If we are not well, we cannot take care of others. There is a lot of burn-out in the medical profession”, ditch.
Roser Termes: “They use the MIR as a workforce because there are no specialists”
He holds in his hands a piece of paper that shows how much a doctor charges in Germany: 7,000 euros per month, separate caretakers. Roser Terms, Aged 29, she is an interim medical resident (MIR) of surgery at the Hospital Clínic. “I am here for improve the quality of our work and the resident education Explain.
This young woman denounces that the system uses residents as “labour”. “We work long hours to filling the gaps for treating physicians, specialist places that are not covered due to lack of staff,” he explains. He recognizes that those who come from abroad These are “attractive” salaries. but rules out leaving for his family.
Martí Quintana: “We are here for a more dignified future”
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Marti Quintana came from Girona to demonstrate in Barcelona. He is an MIR internist at Doctor from Trueta Hospital. “We claim dignity, we are here for a more dignified future, it is said. “For the future that we are and the present of those who are to be formed now”, he says with combativeness.
Quintana denounces that the MIRs their “training” is not guaranteed. Which are “exploited”. That working hours and training “are not regulated”. An example are the requests: “We have a large number of patients. The other day we had up to 38 patients in a single morning in our consultations,” he says. “And there is also no estimate of our workload.
