Public healthcare patients report delays of up to five months for appointments cancelled during the strike
Consubal assures that some users have received new appointments months after their suspended consultations and demands urgent measures from IB-Salut
PalmaThe 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.
According to the entity, several affected individuals have contacted the association to express concern about the lengthening waiting times in some specialties. Consubal assures that new appointments are arriving, in some cases, months after the initially scheduled date.
The president of the association, Alfonso Rodríguez, presents the case of an elderly person who had an appointment with the urologist on May 21, coinciding with a strike day. As he recounts, after waiting more than four months for the first consultation, the new appointment has been set for October 19. This implies, according to the entity, that ten months have passed since the family doctor detected the problem and referred the patient to the Urology service.
Consubal also echoes the case of a 53-year-old woman who, as the association explains, was preferentially referred to the radiology service at Son Espases after a lump was detected in her breast. More than two months after the referral, the entity states, she had still not received any appointment for an ultrasound.
Complaints regarding Espai Salut
The organization also assures that it has received complaints related to the operation of the Espai Salut platform. According to Consubal, some users report errors and difficulties when consulting information about waiting lists or the status of their appointments.
Faced with this situation, Rodríguez calls on IB-Salut and the Ministry of Health to adopt measures to reduce delays and improve patient care, especially among the elderly and less resourced groups.
The complaints arrive in a context marked by the persistence of waiting lists in the Balearic public healthcare system. Delays in accessing certain specialties and diagnostic tests continue to be one of the main concerns of users, a problem that has been periodically aggravated by the lack of professionals and labor disputes recorded within the healthcare system.
Patient and consumer advocacy groups have long warned of the impact these delays can have on the health and quality of life of patients, especially when they affect diagnostic processes or follow-up consultations that require a quick response. In this regard, Consubal regrets that the complaints continue to be repeated without, according to the entity, effective solutions having been adopted to reduce waiting times.
