Call for support for the nurse dismissed as director of Sa Torre
Professionals, patients and citizens concentrate in Manacor to defend Neus Salas after the TSJIB determined that the position should fall to a doctor
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 La Bassa to defend the nurse whom the Superior Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands (TSJIB) has forced to leave her position because it considers that the center's management must fall to a doctor. From the rally in personal support of Neus Salas, a collective demand emerged: the call for management and responsibility positions in healthcare to be valued based on competencies and experience, beyond a strict interpretation of the medical qualification requirement.
“I am impressed by the support, because the truth is that a collective cannot be led without 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 left because the budget had run out. And this 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 to question the normative interpretation that led to the ruling.
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 a "normative interpretation that does not reflect the evolution or the current reality of the healthcare system" and called for "an updated, fair view based on the real competencies of professionals". Sansó stressed that universities train nurses with clinical, research, and management competencies, and defended the need for leaders capable of leading.
Maria José Sastre, president of the College of Nurses of the Balearic Islands, agreed in describing the regulation as anachronistic and announced that efforts would be made 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 made so that all nurses can access these positions of responsibility," concluded Salas.
Salas had been directing the Sa Torre health center since 2019 and had the support of the center's healthcare team. The TSJIB ruling arises from an appeal promoted by the medical union Simebal and the Official College of Physicians of the Balearic Islands.