Internal, saturated by postcovid waterway and without dilution

The Internal Medicine The Spanish, who was still recovering from the effort during the hardest part of Covid, Relive the saturation phase Due to the lack of specialists, the increase in unsatisfactory diseases and the slight rise in hospitalizations due to the seventh wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Currently, the feeling of the representatives of all the independent associations of internal medicine is that We are full of work. My service theoretically has 55 beds and we have 85 patients, which is 70 percent more. This is what we are also experiencing in the rest of Spain. We have 160 percent of patients, but not 160 percent of specialists. In addition, among those present there are many who are on sick leave and They cannot be replaced because there are no professionals.”claims Jesús Diez Manglano, president of the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine (SEMI).

There is a shortage of professionals, according to the internist, spread throughout Spain: “I recently spoke with internists from Galicia, Extremadura, Madrid, the Canary Islands, Asturias, Valencia, Murcia, Aragon, and The problem is the same everywhere: places are not full“.

Some facts that prompted Manglano to ascertain the status of internal medicine in Spain “It is very worrying”. “We have to keep in mind that this is the primary specialty of hospital care and in the mid-term future we don’t see measures being implemented to solve this problem,” says the SEMI president.

Due to the poor situation, the doctor expects to close the “consultations” or not to prioritize the “most severe patients”, but It excludes repeated factory closures Like the one that will be carried out in the internal medicine factory in the hospital of the capital of La Vall (Valencia Community), something he considers an “incredible” case.

Covid flu, the end of media prominence but without attention

The doctor admits that in the most difficult moments of the Covid pandemic, the specialty was more famous. However, he maintains that his caregiver role has not changed at all. This so-called influenza Take a prominent position in the media, but not at all a healthcare champion. In fact, patients who are hospitalized with Covid, even though they have less severe conditions, are still being treated by internists,” Manglano details.

In addition, in this new mode are added the usual patients and those who see for “after the pandemic.” “Add those who They didn’t get attention on time Now there are many complications. sure, Care homes have not retreated at all. What we feel is that internal medicine is saturated and, in addition to the lack of specialists, should add the covid patients who have increased quite a bit recently. have Many different diseases that are getting much worse‘, the SEMI president explains.

Indoor, a replica of the situation in the primary

The situation that internal medicine is going through has many characteristics similar to those that primary care has had for some time, something that should lead Manglano’s health authorities to reflect on the national health system.

“There must be A reflection of the health system we want. Undoubtedly, in the public health system that we have in Spain, success depends on the activity of everyone, but the basis is in doctors with a comprehensive, universal and general perception, which are primary care physicians in a community setting and internists in a hospital setting, “assures the President of SEMI.

In this sense, Manglano claims that “if that is a good talent and works, there will be an optimal development of everything else, if this starts to fail.” No matter how good everything else is, the system will start to fail.”.