Call for support for the nurse dismissed as director of Sa Torre

ManacorNeus Salas, director of the Sa Torre de Manacor Health Center, once again received the support this Tuesday from professionals, patients, and citizens of Manacor. More than 150 people gathered at sa Bassa to defend the nurse who the Superior Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands (TSJIB) has forced to leave her position because it considers that the direction of the center must fall to a doctor. From the concentration in personal support for Neus Salas, a collective demand emerged: the demand that positions of direction and responsibility in healthcare be valued based on competencies and experience, beyond a strict interpretation of the medical degree requirement.

“I am impressed by the support, because the truth is that a team cannot be led if there isn't a good team, and that is a matter of three, a medical manager and an admissions manager. We are the largest center in Mallorca. And we do it without space, because we need a new center”, Salas began, visibly emotional.

She also recalled a childhood anecdote as a metaphor for the problem: “When I was ten years old, I won a writing award… They told me there were no more prizes because the budget had run out. And that phrase 'there is no budget', we nurses always hear it”.

Leadership and management

The demonstration served for various representatives of the sector to publicly defend the leadership capacity of nurses and question the regulatory interpretation that led to the sentence.

Maria Antònia Barceló, president of the Balearic Association of Community Nursing, claimed “the leadership, management, and transformative capacity that we nurses have in the healthcare system. We are nurses who research, who teach, who develop community projects, and manage them”.

Barceló also praised Salas for her empathy, energy, and ability to inspire the team in difficult times.

Noemí Sansó, director of the Department of Nursing and Physiotherapy at the UIB, described the judicial decision as an “interpretative regulation that does not reflect the evolution or the current reality of the healthcare system” and called for “an updated, fair perspective based on the real competencies of the professionals”. Sansó stressed that universities train nurses with clinical, research, and management skills, and defended the need for capable leaders.

Maria José Sastre, president of the College of Nurses of the Balearic Islands, agreed in describing the regulation as anachronistic and announced that they will fight to change it.

Cristina Moreno, vice-rector of the UIB and also a nurse, emphasized the gender dimension of the issue: “I believe that women and nurses… know how difficult it is for us to be recognized”.

“This is not about me. It was a recourse that had to be put in place so that all nurses can access these positions of responsibility,” concluded Salas.

Salas directed the Sa Torre Health Center since 2019 and had the support of the center’s healthcare team. The TSJIB ruling comes as a result of an appeal promoted by the medical union Simebal and the Official College of Physicians of the Balearic Islands.