Hospital outlines care advances
Mayors briefed by department chief
THE MANAGEMENT team of Torrevieja health department met with the mayors of municipalities within its catchment area on Wednesday to explain the improvements made to services such as primary care, emergencies and hospitalisation.
Continual improvement of the service in emergencies is a priority, as is reducing the quotas of patients in primary care, and providing excellent emergency care at the health centres in the area which have 24-hour continuous attention points (PACs), according to a spokeswoman.
Department manager José Cano cited the 20 new beds which increased the capacity of the second floor at the hospital and will relieve pressure on the observation area in A&E. In the 12 months since January 2022, the hospital has gone from 245 beds (224 for hospitalisation, 15 for intensive care and six for neonatal) to 274 beds
(248 for hospitalisation, 18 for intensive care and eight for neonatal). Working conditions for professionals have also been improved, including pay and conditions for workers on call, extending the times when medics are available on call, extra doctors and nurses for the 24-hour continuous attention points at La Loma in Torrevieja and Pilar de la Horadada health centres, and offering incentives to work overtime in order to reduce waiting lists, he said. Sr Cano noted that 10,551 surgical operations were carried out in the area over the past year, of which 77.53% were outpatient procedures.
The meeting was part of the management’s ‘policy of transparency’, which also emphasises how important they consider the input of representatives from local communities, associations and the general public, in order to keep improving healthcare services, he noted.