The Spanish Association of Primary Care Pediatrics (AEPap) and the Spanish Society of Outpatient and Primary Care Pediatrics (SEPEAP) began a campaign to collect signatures for months warn of the serious situation of some health centers of our country in the absence of pediatricians.
Next Friday, the more than 215,000 signatures gathered will be delivered to the Ministry of Health, Consumption and Social Welfare, hoping to find solutions and address measures that ensure the Spanish pediatric care model which, according to experts, is currently "in serious danger of extinction."
Why are pediatricians missing in health centers?
Although the pediatrician is the figure most trusted by families for the care of their minor children, in recent years, the lack of these specialists in health centers has often meant that children have to be cared for by Other professionals
According to experts, the reasons are mainly due to budget cuts and unattractive working conditions, which make MIR students of pediatrics end up preferring to work in hospitals, emergencies or private consultations, instead of choosing public outpatients.
Not surprisingly, 30 percent of the pediatric positions of the health centers of our country are not occupied by pediatricians, so from the AEPap they consider it essential to incentivize in some way these places of difficult coverage."Confidence", the signature collection campaign
That is why both scientific societies decided to launch the "Trust" campaign, which we talked about in Babies and More a few months ago, and with which we were encouraged to sign against this serious situation.
In Babies and more Pediatricians are missing in primary care consultations in our country, and it is very worryingThe signatures collected at this time will be presented to the Ministry of Health next Friday, from the hands of Dr. Concepción Sánchez Pina, president of the AEPap, Dr. Fernando García-Sala, president of SEPEAP and representatives of their societies in the different communities autonomous.
After delivery, they will meet with the Minister of Health, María Luisa Carcedo, to discuss measures that ensure the Spanish pediatric care model, as well as the presentation of a decalogue of improvements.
The primary care pediatrician, a key figure for families
The work done by a primary care pediatrician is fundamental, not only because it treats and helps prevent health problems of the child from birth to almost his adolescence, but because his role has been gaining more and more ground to become a key figure in really complex situations.
Primary care pediatricians become essential when it comes to detecting psychological problems in children and adolescents, day-to-day follow-up of premature babies, child abuse or / and sexual abuse, bullying, and even high capacities or giftedness. Not to mention, logically, the reviews and the importance of monitoring the healthy child.
For all these reasons, we hope that the appeal of the AEPap and SEPEAP so that All children can be treated by a pediatrician at their health center, be heard, and not only solve this problem, but improve the working conditions of these professionals and can have the tools they need to fulfill their function.
Photos | iStock
