The Congress of Deputies hosted this Wednesday a debate on the priorities of the future of emergency medicinein which the need to recognize this specialty, a fundamental pillar of the National Health System, which today supports temporary rates of up to 80% in some communities.
Tato Vázquez Lima, president of the Spanish Society of Emergency and Emergency Medicine (SEMES) assures that “Spain lags behind compared to the most developed countries”. Our country is, together with Portugal, the only country in Europe that does not have a recognized specialty in emergency medicine.
There is no doubt regarding the quality of some professionals who are the gateway to the health system and who, in addition to their usual workload, have had to fully face a pandemic. That they are specialists is clear to all of society, and also, according to what this Wednesday’s debate in Congress gave of itself, all parliamentary groups. Thus, the final approval of the specialty in emergency medicine should be “immediate”.
Tato Vázquez Lima, president of SEMES, emergency coordinator at the Hospital do Salnés, in Pontevedra, and, above all, an emergency physician, assures that “more than 20,000 men and women, including doctors, nurses and health emergency technicians” claim the Government to intervene to professionalize a fundamental sector of medicine. “When a patient faces a situation that compromises her life, she must have at her disposal a first-class doctor, with regulated training, as in the rest of the European countries“. We are talking regarding extreme situations such as a multiple fire, a traffic accident, a heart attack or a terrorist attack.
Another piece of information that was revealed in the debate this Wednesday in Congress, in which young professionals who want to develop their career as emergency physicians took part, is that 15% of the doctors who choose another specialty After finishing their studies, they would really like to train in emergency and emergency medicine. “We are a future that, until now, is denied, but, if you want, the future can be today.” Dr. Uxía Fernández, resident doctor at the A Coruña University Hospital Complex, and Dr. Santiago Toranzo, resident doctor at the Hospital del Bierzo Ponferrada, were so forceful, speaking on behalf of the thousands of MIR students and young doctors from Spain who wish to be emergency physicians with a recognized degree.
The spokeswoman for the Socialist Group in the Health Commission of the Congress, Ana Prieto, assured in her speech that at this time the processing of a Royal Decree Project is being finalized, which determines the criteria and procedure for an area of knowledge to become a specialty. “When the project is approved, Urgencies and Emergencies will be able to apply the procedure, following the established criteria,” she assured.
So, once once more, the ball remains on the court of the Ministry of Health. On her behalf, the Director of Professional Planning, Celia Gómez, also intervened in this debate, acknowledging that: “The daily work in the emergency services, their exceptional dedication in these last two years cannot but deserve the express recognition of the Ministry of Health as a whole, and my own, to the professionals who provide services to citizens on a daily basis”. An acknowledgment that now awaits a firm step so that it can also be recognized on paper.
