Alex Trelinski
A HEALTH emergency co-ordination centre(CICU) will be restored to Alicante province- just months after it was integrated into one Valencian region facility.
Alicante’s CICU shut in January with all ambulance call outs being routed to Valencia amidst accusations that staff did not have a good enough knowledge of local areas.
The new Partido Popular-Vox regional government says it will reverse the closure but no timetable has been given.
The CCOO union said in a statement: “The Valencian Health System is returning to decentralisation- a path that it should not have deviated from, with dramatic consequences for residents by reducing the quality of the service.”
As the Olive Press reported in April, a La Marina village resident died after an ambulance was despatched on a 30 kilometre journey from Elche, as opposed to one from Rojales- a mere five minutes drive away.
The Medical Union representing doctors made a complaint over what it regarded as a ‘very serious matter’ while SAMU ambulance spokesperson admitted that ‘this type of incident has happened several times’ since the closure of the Alicante CICU.
The Valencian government nevertheless has ruled out the CICU’s return to its old Alicante General Hospital base much to the ire of the CCOO’s local general secretary, Francisco Tevar.
“We have all the facilities we need in the hospital which cost the previous PP government €1 million to set up,“ Tevar pointed out.
“It would be a waste to spend another million again when the current one could open in a week,” he added.
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