Healthcare transport workers in the Balearic Islands have announced new mobilizations during this month of April to demand payment of various pending salary increases and the updating of payrolls. The call comes after the USO union denounced accumulated non-payments at the public company Gestión Sanitaria y Asistencial de las Islas Baleares (GSAIB).

The UGT union has denounced the Balearic Islands Health Service (IB-Salut) for dismantling parts of 55 new ambulances to reduce their weight to less than 3,500 kilograms so they can be driven by technicians, many of whom only hold a Class B driver's license. Among the removed components are hydraulic ramps and essential seats necessary for transporting people with reduced mobility. Javier Marín, head of Healthcare Transport for UGT Balearic Islands, explains: "After analyzing the documentation of the modified and weight-reduced vehicles, which we can call 'van taxis,' we discovered a very serious issue. For three months, ambulances weighing over 3,500 kilos have been driven by technicians using both a car and a driver's license. The Health Service claimed that the modified vehicles weighed less than 3,500 kilos and could accommodate up to six passengers. This poses a serious risk to workers, patients, and public safety." "It's like they're taxis taking people from one place to another because, ideally, they only allow people without any physical limitations to get in," adds Vicente Nadal, UGT delegate at GSAIB Ibiza and Formentera. UGT sources point out that most of the vehicles used for scheduled patient transport weighed over 3,500 kilos, requiring a Class C license, which most drivers don't have. To try to fix this problem, IB-Salut modified the ambulances, eliminating vital technical improvements. Thus, "they've become simple vans with four seats in the back and two in the front," the union denounces.

The Balearic Islands Health Service (IB-Salut) has removed parts from 55 new ambulances to reduce their weight to under 3,500 kilograms, allowing them to be driven by technicians, most of whom hold a Class B license. The government has dismantled hydraulic ramps and seats from these vehicles, which are intended for scheduled patient transport. These components are essential for transporting people with, for example, reduced mobility. "It's like they're taxis taking people from one place to another because, ideally, they only allow passengers without any physical limitations," explains Vicente Nadal, UGT delegate for Healthcare Management of the Balearic Islands (GSAIB) in Ibiza and Formentera. The Ministry of Health acquired 130 ambulances for scheduled transport and has been forced to replace almost half of them because 80% of the staff do not have a Class C license, which is required to drive vehicles weighing over 3.5 tons. In Ibiza, in addition to the technical problem, many ambulances, both scheduled and emergency, are left outdoors, exposed to the sun, rain, and even flooding. "In winter, the medication and IV fluids crystallize. And in summer, the cabin reaches temperatures between 45 and 50 degrees Celsius. The medication also deteriorates due to the humidity," Nadal reports.

The UGT union has denounced the "critical" situation of urgent and scheduled medical transport in Formentera, which is "collapsed due to the lack of organization and management of the public company GSAIB." According to a statement, the revocation of employment contracts for weeks and the policy of not hiring workers leaves the island in a "critical" situation due to the shortage of emergency medical technicians (TES). UGT considered that this situation "is the direct result of the passive and alarming" dependence of IB-Salut on managing the personnel crisis that the sector has denounced for months and that the management of the public company is incapable of solving. It lamented that the lack of personnel to cover shifts is causing them to go unfilled and are being covered by extra guards from the rest of the staff or by professionals from scheduled medical transport.