Ayuso appeases the health crisis with a heel strike in the face of the caution of other communities

The health crisis in the Community of Madrid has ended 115 days later. The Government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso formalized this Thursday with the Amyts union the labor agreement to resolve a conflict that has taken its toll on the Executive in every way. The political attrition has been more than evident, with two massive demonstrations in the capital and an all-out offensive by the left in an election year, but also in economic terms. The regional president has appeased the problem with a heel strike, with a salary increase of up to 1,150 euros per month for primary care doctors and paediatricians in the region. The disbursement is far from the actions of other autonomous communities that have also had to deal with pressure and strikes by professionals due to deficiencies in the health system in recent months.

The pact alleviates part of the care overload suffered by health workers, with fewer patients on their schedules, and includes various compensation supplements that raise the potential increase above 1,000 euros. Now one is going to pay Fixed bonus of 450 euros per month for all doctors of primary care. This, according to sources at the negotiating table, replaces the productivity level existing to date per health card attended, which represented an average of 323 euros for doctors and 279 euros for paediatricians and did not even reach professionals from 44 centers . will also be paid 500 euros for those who work the afternoon shift and another 300 euros per month for those who do the same three and four days a week. And finally, up to a maximum of 200 euros for four voluntary overtime hours, at a rate of 50 euros for each of them.

Other measures

These economic improvements contrast with those of other regions. All the regional governments threatened by the primary care strikes have reduced the healthcare burden on doctors to a greater or lesser extent and have negotiated the payment of overtime, but none have included new fixed salary supplements. The Junta de Andalucía, for example, established a maximum of 35 patients per professional and 45.52 euros for each hour in the afternoon shift. In the Valencian Community, for its part, there is an increase in the remuneration for the hour on call, but in no case is there a general bonus.

Why doctors and CAM do not agree (unlike other regions)

A. Farnos

Neither in Catalonia, although this Thursday a agreement between the Department of Health and the Metges union between 5,700 and 19,000 euros per year. Sources from this ministry detailed to El Confidencial that it already existed and it does not imply any novelty regarding what already existed. “What we will do now is review your application in case there are some places where it is not being applied well”, they declare.

None of the territories has reached the end of the Community of Madrid. Neither Cantabria, nor Aragon, nor Extremadura, nor Navarra. Neither did the Balearic Islands, which announced the payment of 4,800 euros a year for doctors from Menorca and Ibiza with three-year contracts. And Castilla y León, although pay 233 euros for every four hours, is far from these new features. The reality is that in none of the communities was there the same pressure as in the case of Isabel Diaz Ayuso, with two marches that brought together more than 200,000 people in protest of his administration. Neither did the negotiation take that long.

Doctors will charge up to 1,150 euros more per month, counting the fixed plus and the afternoon or overtime allowances

Isabel Diaz Ayuso He celebrated the agreement reached this Thursday and recalled that healthcare is the “jewel in the crown” and will continue to be so. “This agreement gives peace of mind to patients, to the people of Madrid and ensures the normality of a health system that still has a long way to go to improve. But also the commitment of the Government of the Community of Madrid to visit it without skimping on resources. We will continue working day by day to improve public health and consolidate it as one of the best in the world,” declared the Madrid president.

In the Community of Madrid, they are fully aware that no one has paid as much as they have to quell the health crisis. The resolution of the conflict became a priority for Isabel Díaz Ayuso and her team months ago, cornered just a few months before the May 28 elections. The conflict, with numerous unproductive meetings, became entrenched in the middle of a huge controversy. The parties of the left in the region, Más Madrid, PSOE and Unidas Podemos, they took advantage of the inertia of the protests in the street and they made this issue the capital theme of the pre-campaign. The last rally, on February 12, revealed that the white tide was leading the opposition against the Madrid president. In addition, the strike in primary care was joined by strikes by hospital doctors, although the storm has abated.

The white tide already leads the opposition to Ayuso three months after 28-M

Ignacio S. Calleja Andrea Farnos

The situation even conditioned the future of Enrique Ruiz Escudero. Beyond the discussion about whether or not the Minister of Health should go to Pozuelo de Alarcón as a PP candidate, one of the weighty arguments to avoid the government crisis was that this issue was still open. “We could not deviate one millimeter from the work we were doing,” they say from Escudero’s environment, which will eventually be one of the candidates for the Senate by autonomous designation. In the Executive, they hope that the agreement will definitively bury the crisis and that it will not influence the next elections.

The agreement has satisfied both parties when it seemed impossible, already marked by the noise of 28-M. The Community of Madrid initially offered a maximum of 400 euros for the fixed supplement, while Amyts claimed 480 euros. And although from the union they regret that in other regions they pay more for overtime, they accept the terms of the agreement as good. As this newspaper reported, doctors’ agendas are also limited to ease the care burdenwith a time per patient of 10 and 15 minutes in family medicine and pediatrics, with a maximum of 300. Also 30 patients in primary care and 20 in pediatrics, expandable to others in emergencies. Secondly, the implementation of other additional measures will be assessed in centers where problems of difficult coverage persist, for examination by a monitoring commission.

The health crisis in the Community of Madrid has ended 115 days later. The Government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso formalized this Thursday with the Amyts union the labor agreement to resolve a conflict that has taken its toll on the Executive in every way. The political attrition has been more than evident, with two massive demonstrations in the capital and an all-out offensive by the left in an election year, but also in economic terms. The regional president has appeased the problem with a heel strike, with a salary increase of up to 1,150 euros per month for primary care doctors and paediatricians in the region. The disbursement is far from the actions of other autonomous communities that have also had to deal with pressure and strikes by professionals due to deficiencies in the health system in recent months.