Fever, dizziness, or persistent pain. Going to the emergency room or the Catalan Health Hospital and not being able to visit them. Which is what This has happened to at least five newly arrived families Ripoll, some with minors, whom he contacted Newspaperfrom the same editorial group as Girona newspaper. This lack of health care is a result of the obstacles imposed by the mayor, Silvia Orioles, to register immigrants in her municipality. But not only that. Denying a patient healthcare is a violation of Law No. 9/2017 on the universality of Catalan healthcare, as well as protocols and decrees ensuring compliance. The Ripoll Primary Care Center (CAP) combines many of these negatives to stop urgent healthcare, according to those affected, who also point to the Regional Hospital in Campdevanol.
The Ministry of Health reduces these cases to a “communication problem” It asked county health centers to enhance the information they provide to citizens about their health rights.
The answer these unregistered citizens receive is always the same: “Don't come until they're registered.”. According to witnesses, the CAP in Ripoll refuses to guarantee universal health care. Many of them are offered treatment but first have to pay a certain amount, in some cases up to 150 euros per visit. There are exceptions: when administrators let patients fall out of humanity and love.
Ways to reach the doctor
The truth is that, consciously or unconsciously, CAP of Ripoll does not comply with legislation. Law No. 9/2017 universalizing health care with public funds through the Catalan Health Service guarantees the right of all residents of Catalonia to “free health care without exceptions,” with mechanisms that go beyond the census. Medical activists complain about the fact that after seven years, the law has not yet published its regulations, making it difficult to implement it properly and turning it into a “wet paper”. However, there are two documents that facilitate compliance with what the law stipulates. Two documents that Ripoll CAP employees do not provide.
On the one hand, The 2016 CatSalut Resolution states that everyone must be cared for in emergency situations without exceptionIf a person does not have a health card or financial resources, he must be treated for free and then sign a declaration of responsibility. Only one of the many people contacted, Mustafa Bourada, explains that he was treated in this way. It was not at CAP, but at Campdevànol Hospital. He was taken care of after protesting at a waiting room table.
The second mechanism to be applied is the agreement signed by the Red Cross and the Catalan Health Service in 2015, according to which the Red Cross is empowered to process the health card of sick, vulnerable and unregistered people. Under the protocol, social and administrative workers at CAPs must notify the Red Cross of cases of citizens in these circumstances so that the NGO can process the cards. At Ripoll, CAP officials don't do this work.
Sources from the Red Cross in Ripoll explained that they currently have only three requests on the table. One of them is from a family who presented themselves to the organization's headquarters after El Periódico newspaper reported on the possibility of applying for a health card in this way. The other two arrived at the request of social services in Repulse.
“It's so common, many CAPs don't even know this option exists. But the problem ends up being resolved if we inform CatSalut and they intervene», they explain from the Red Cross in Girones. But what happens is that the Red Cross delegation in Ripoll does not even communicate with the local clinic, according to sources from the organization in the region.
The Ministry of Health explained, after learning of these cases, that it had asked public health centers in Ripoll to “strengthen communication with citizens to inform them of the procedures and ensure health and pharmaceutical care.”
And they confirm that At CAP “there may be some communication problems” but they insist on “responding to all requests”. In fact, the government adds that this center “deals with particular caution with minors and pregnant women” who receive urgent assistance, follow-up visits and vaccinations, despite not having a health card. This newspaper conducted interviews with five families with children under the age of eleven who had not been vaccinated and had not been visited for health follow-up.
“CatSalut is not doing its joba. “They exclude these families from health care passively and through omission,” said Carlos Losana, a pediatrician and spokesperson for the Universal Health Care Platform of Catalonia (PASOCAT). “I don’t know if it is because of the ignorance of the workers, and they are many because the government does not publish These protocols, or because the workers do not want to guarantee this right… But in any case, this is a flagrant violation of regulations and basic human rights,” this doctor insists. In addition, he points out that although the procedure with the Red Cross to obtain a health card It can take up to three weeks, but in some cases, exceptionally, it can be treated urgently if necessary. “Well, it was during Covid,” he replied.
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