Around 1990, at a time when the Baix Vinalopó health department was going through a chaotic situation with regard to bed availability, I attended the opening of the inpatient unit of Elche university hospital. The Orihuela hospital was planned, the new resources it would soon contribute to could not yet be relied upon. I was surprised to see that this type of unit was presented in response to the COVID pandemic on TVE’s three o’clock news on Thursday, April 28, and also focused on information about the “La Paz” hospital. He conveyed the message that the Madrid healthcare system knows how to respond to an exceptional situation and that such a useful unit has come to stay.
For those of us who do not live in Madrid, it is difficult for us to understand the phrase “Madrid is Spain within Spain”, as the president said and shared by TVE; maybe that’s why we insist on seeing a reality of this country at the foot of the M-30. So let this humble citizen of the “country” reflect on the “mistake” of not identifying Madrid with Spain.
If TVE wanted to convey information about the benefits of the home hospitalization system, it should have chosen another community with a greater presence and tradition. It is enough to access the website of the “Spanish Home Hospitalization Association” to confirm that there are communities where the practice is much larger than in Madrid: Madrid has eight home hospitalization units, while in Catalonia and the Community of Valencia 27 each, Community of Valencia, proportional to its population. (4.5 times more than Madrid) took first place in Spain.
The news is not that “La Paz” implemented hospitalization at home, but that it did so very late in 2020. It is true that the first unit in Spain was created in “Gregorio Marañón” in 1981, but then there was a break and Madrid was clearly behind in the implementation of such utility units. The truth is, it’s like doing magic: what should have been a reason to blush becomes pride.
Perhaps insufficient funding has meant that in the Community of Valencia from the very beginning we had to optimize our resources without degrading the quality of service to citizens, whereas in Madrid they did not have to think about these things and, moreover, they give themselves the luxury of a financial “dumping” of the rest of the autonomous communities. .
Yes, this model should be expanded, as Manuel Mirón, president of the Spanish Home Hospitalization Association, said in the news, because those of us who saw the need to resort to their services were able to verify not only the quality, but also the quality. but at the same time taking care of the humanity to which it is presented… the public media needs to be aware that there is a reality outside of its closest environment, not just to reflect conflicts or events. There is smart life beyond Madrid.
Source: Informacion
Barbara Dickson is a seasoned writer for “Social Bites”. She keeps readers informed on the latest news and trends, providing in-depth coverage and analysis on a variety of topics.