For weeks the head of Oncology at Can Misses Hospital, Sergio Sánchez Cerrato, had told his patients that in mid-March he would leave Ibiza, but he did not officially inform the management of the Pitiusa Health Department until the end of last week. “He had anticipated the possibility of his departure to some of his patients, but it was dependent on an interview at the hospital of destination,” the direction of the center detailed yesterday before pointing out that the head of the service gave the required fifteen days in writing.
The head of Oncology will leave Can Misses Hospital on April 20th, however, next week will be the final week of work as next Friday he will begin a vacation period linked to his departure.
Thus, if on April 20 the Servei Balear de Salut has not hired an oncologist, the Pitiusas Islands will be left with less than three specialists to attend to cancer patients: two full-time and one part-time. This means half the required staff, as Can Misses Hospital should have four full-time oncologists, as is the case in Menorca despite the fact that Ibiza and Formentera have a 71% higher population (about 68,000 people). This is a situation that patients complained about just over a month ago, when, due to a sick leave, the service was left with half of the specialists. On some days, there was only one. Those affected had already requested that Salud refer professionals from other public hospitals. One of the patients, who suffered a delay in her check-up, wrote a letter in which she denounced the “discrimination” suffered by the cancer patients of the Pitiusas. Even with full staff numbers, the difference with Menorca is abysmal: the Pitiusas have one oncologist for every 47,000 inhabitants and Menorca, one for every 24,000.
The departure of Sánchez Cerrato has forced the management of Can Misses Hospital to increase the visits of oncologists from the two university hospitals on the Balearic Islands: Son Espases and Son Llàtzer, both in Mallorca. Something that, they stressed, they could not request until the head of the service officially communicated his departure. “This month has 24 working days. Of those 24 days, a total of 13 oncologists from Mallorca will visit Can Misses, who will work double shifts, so, in practice and with the number of patients they will see, it is as if they were here 26 days, two more than the working days of the month. That is, it will be like having a full-time oncologist”, detailed the management of the hospital yesterday. This reinforcement will be maintained, they insisted, “as long as necessary”. On each of these days, the external doctors will see 20 patients, which means that, in March, according to the planning already done, they will see 260 cancer patients. The visits will intensify from March 22nd, coinciding with the start of the holidays of the head of the service.
Second visits and check-ups at Can Misses Hospital
These specialists will focus on second visits and check-ups. The aim, according to the hospital, is to attend to patients who, due to the precarious situation of the service at the beginning of the year, have suffered a delay in their check-ups. “At that time it was necessary to prioritize who was being attended to,” they justified before detailing that all the first visits and check-ups closer to the treatments were maintained. These are the patients who will now be attended to as soon as possible. These specialists, for the moment, will go to Mallorca and return the same day, although, if it were necessary to increase the visits and they had to spend the night on the island, they would be offered a room in the residence for professionals of the old Can Misses Hospital. There are several oncologists from Mallorca who will attend patients from the Pitiusas, although they will always be the same.
The management is confident that they will be able to hire new oncologists as soon as possible. They are looking for three specialists: one to replace Sánchez Cerrato, another to cover the other half of the position left vacant by the reduced working hours of another of the specialists and a third to expand the staff. To this end, Can Misses Hospital has offered work in Oncology to the doctors who are doing their residency in this specialty at Son Espases (eleven) and Son Llàtzer (four) and who finish their training in May. In the same way, talks are underway with a specialist who, in any case, could join at the end of the summer.
Can Misses does not plan to fill the position of head of service until the turbulent staffing of Oncology has been resolved, where the competitive examination has already been completed, in addition, which will allow those who are now interim specialists to become permanent. Thus, for the time being, it is the Hospital’s medical management, headed by Sheyla Sironvalle, who, together with the Admissions department, is in charge of the department.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.