The Comisiones Obreras union has denounced the removal of a patient from the waiting lists of the La Paz University Hospital (Madrid). To Rafael, the affected one, You have been denied access to the Dermatology surgical waiting list because it is already included in those of Ophthalmology.
Rafael has been undergoing ophthalmological treatment for two years for a problem that has caused him to lose his visual field. He June 24, 2024According to the Community of Madrid, the man entered the Ophthalmology waiting list for an eyelid reconstruction operation (NEOM). At that time, 1,021 patients were waiting to access the operating room at the La Paz Hospital, a population that has grown to 1,143 people, according to data for the month of September.
The average wait in June, when Rafael was registered, was 34.31 days, but tthree months laterhe is still retired could not be carried out due to the operation. However, health problems have continued to appear: on October 20, in an outpatient dermatology consultation in Tres Cantos (north of Madrid), two lesions were detected in the frontal area of the scalp. These marks, which appeared as bright, infiltrated erythematous plaques, are a sign of basal cell carcinomasa type of skin cancer.
The patient had a history of positive biopsies which, together with this diagnosis, caused the doctors to register him on the Dermatology waiting lists to have both lesions removed. That same day, they called him from the La Paz Hospital to inform him that “It was not possible to be registered on two waiting listsdue to pending eyelid reconstruction.” The administration then removed him from the dermatological waiting list.
According to the Madrid Ministry of Health, the La Paz University Hospital followed the regional regulations on waiting lists, which establishes that there cannot be duplication. “In those patients in whom more than one surgical procedure is planned, different from each other, in two or more different surgical times, each of them will proceed as independent processes and, therefore, uOnce the first one has been resolved, the procedure for inclusion in the registry will begin for the following one(s).the order of inclusion being the highest priority prescribed by the surgical specialist for the patient’s health at all times,” dictates Madrid legislation.
In the event that a patient is registered in two different registries, as long as there is no preferential priority, you can choose one of the two to staywhether at the choice of the patient, the professionals or, failing that, the one with the most seniority. It is for this reason that they have removed the affected person from the dermatological waiting list. When he manages to undergo his operation, he will return to the registry, which currently has 406 patients waiting, with an average delay of 56.82 days.
CCOO points out that not even the dermatologist in charge of Rafael’s case, recently transferred from Seville to Madrid, was aware of this regulation, approved in 2016. “In his case, it should be established what priority should be taken into account by analyzing the two types of necessary intervention,” said the specialist.
The Community of Madrid indicates that Rafael went to the Hospital’s Patient Care Service on October 28, where his claim will be attended to.
