Last week, a doctors' strike in the province of Málaga resulted in the suspension of a total of 43,790 healthcare appointments. This was reported by the Andalusian government, which has criticized the Ministry of Health's stance.
Acting Minister of Health, Antonio Sanz, stated that Minister Mónica García "has not had a single second to dialogue and reach an agreement," leading to "six chained doctors' strikes." Sanz lamented that the problem "has been growing month by month" since December, impacting citizens with cancellations.
Sanz described the minister as "the worst Minister of Health in the history of Spanish democracy" and a "pyromaniac of public healthcare," suggesting her focus is on her electoral candidacy rather than resolving the health crisis. In contrast, he defended the Junta de Andalucía's position, asserting their support for doctors' demands and commitment to dialogue.
The minister urged the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to "sit down with the doctors, listen to them, and dialogue" to end the strike. According to Sanz, the minister prefers to "shirk responsibility and blame the autonomous communities" instead of accepting that the Framework Statute's development falls under the Ministry's purview. He called for García's resignation and the implementation of a dialogue-based policy.
Since the strikes began in December, Andalusia has experienced over 1.5 million suspended healthcare appointments, averaging 60,000 daily cancellations, including appointments, diagnostic tests, and surgeries. The accumulated economic impact of these strikes is estimated at nearly 200 million euros.
The most recent strike week, from June 16th to 19th, led to the loss of 211,504 healthcare appointments in Andalusia, with an estimated economic impact of 28.64 million euros. Sanz questioned how the PSOE can claim to defend public healthcare while allowing such cancellations.
Meanwhile, the PP spokesperson for Málaga, Elisa Pérez de Siles, criticized the "irreparable damage" caused by Minister Mónica García, whose "stubbornness" has led to over 1.3 million suspended healthcare appointments in Andalusia since December. The PP in Málaga specified this includes more than 800,000 primary care consultations, 450,000 hospital consultations, 92,000 diagnostic tests, and 23,000 surgical procedures.
Pérez de Siles identified the minister as "the main culprit of this chaos" for "imposing the Framework Statute on professionals" and refusing to negotiate. She demanded explanations for the thousands of patients affected by canceled appointments and surgeries.
The PP spokesperson added that during the fifth week of the medical strike in Andalusia, the conflict "continued to escalate without the ministry showing willingness to dialogue," attributing the situation to the minister's "incompetence." She emphasized that the minister "wants to impose the Framework Statute without agreement" and blame the autonomous communities for a problem that is directly the ministry's responsibility.
