The Consumers' Association of the Balearic Islands (Consubal) has reported that patients in the public healthcare system are receiving new medical appointments with delays of up to five months after consultations were cancelled during recent strike days.

The fourth week of doctors' strike in the Balearic Islands, called to demand a specific framework statute for the medical collective and which this Thursday reaches its fourth and final day, has already caused the suspension of 212 operations and 11,239 consultations. According to provisional data provided by IBSalut, only this Thursday 41 surgical interventions and 1,418 consultations and diagnostic tests have been cancelled, in addition to 1,694 Primary Care visits.

Doctors and medical professionals are called this Monday to a new week of strike, from May 18 to 22, the fourth since the beginning of the year, to reject the framework statute proposed by the Ministry of Health and demand their own text.

The first two days of the strike called by doctors against the reform of the "Estatut Marc" of the Ministry of Health have had a notable impact in the Balearic Islands, with the suspension of 137 surgical interventions and 5,408 consultations, according to data provided by IB-Salut). Specifically, during these two days, 2,840 consultations and diagnostic tests have been cancelled, as well as 2,568 primary care visits. On Tuesday alone, the protest has led to the cancellation of 65 operations, 1,594 consultations and diagnostic tests, and 1,056 consultations in health centers. In total, the number of affected medical acts amounts to 5,545 in the first two days of a strike that will last until Thursday, a day on which unions have called for mobilizations throughout the State.

The Union of Doctors of the Balearic Islands (Simebal-CESM) maintains the strike planned for next week, from April 27 to 30, against the draft of the Framework Statute due to the lack of agreement with the Ministry of Health. The strikes, the third this year, are maintained after the different meetings held with the Ministry regarding the demands of the Strike Committee, focused on achieving decent working conditions for doctors and the guarantee of public healthcare, Simebal stated in a press release collected by Europa Press.

Hundreds of doctors demonstrated this Thursday afternoon in the streets of downtown Palma as part of a new week of nationwide strikes demanding improved working conditions and a specific statute for their profession. The demonstration began shortly after 6:30 p.m., departing from the Balearic Islands Medical Association and proceeding through the city center to the Government Delegation building, where the doctors read a manifesto. During the march, many participants, dressed in white coats, chanted slogans such as Minister, I resign, the doctors won't admit you, 'Monica, traitor, where are you now? either 'Sánchez, fire her.The protest ended with an ambulance with its lights on, bringing up the rear of the procession.

The third day of the new week of doctors' strikes in the Balearic Islands has forced the cancellation of a total of 3,863 appointments, diagnostic tests, and surgeries across the archipelago, according to provisional data released Wednesday by the Balearic Islands Health Service (Ib-Salut). Mallorca is the most affected island, with 3,249 medical procedures canceled. The majority of the cancellations occurred in primary care, with 2,180 appointments postponed. Regarding outpatient consultations and diagnostic tests, 1,615 appointments were canceled, while 68 surgeries were suspended.

Hospitals and health centers in the Balearic Islands will provide minimum services equivalent to those established on public holidays from March 16 to 20, during the second week of the strike called by medical staff in protest against the reform of the Framework Statute. As reported this Friday by the Ministry of Health, the minimum services will be in effect from 00:00 on Monday the 16th until 23:59 on Friday the 20th and will be the same as on public holidays. In hospital care, services that do not operate on public holidays will guarantee the presence of a doctor on the morning shift. In central services, activity will be ensured with 30% of the usual staff, except in radiophysics, with 50% coverage, and in hematology and hemotherapy, also with 50% of the staff.

This Wednesday, Maria (a pseudonym) was scheduled for surgery at Son Espases Hospital, but the day ended in frustration and anxiety. Her procedure was postponed due to the doctors' strike, which has led to the cancellation of thousands of appointments and hundreds of operations since it began on Monday. For days, Maria had been organizing herself to get ahead on work and do overtime so that her colleagues wouldn't have to take on what she couldn't do while on leave. "I also took care of preparing the house and doing the shopping because I didn't know how I would be in the days following the operation," she explains. She even gave up her usual activities to rest and be able to get up very early. The day before her surgery, she was supposed to participate in an activity in Calvià that ended at 10:30 p.m. "I didn't go because I had to wake up at 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday," she recounts.