The Primary Care Directorate of the teruel health sector has reorganized pediatric care due to the lack of specialists in rural areas to guarantee the best care for the 0-14 year old population. The main change is that healthy children in seven health areas who currently do not have a pediatrician will be checked out at the Teruel Ensanche health center in the capital. On-demand and emergency care will be maintained at health centers with primary care physicians competent in pediatric care, as well as nursing checkups and vaccinations.

Four of the six pediatrician positions (each professional has more than one health field) serving the rural sector of the Teruel sector for several months have not been filled by specialists, one is vacant, and the other three are low due to occupational risks. Matilde Martínez, Director of Primary Care, explained that it was not possible to fill these positions due to the lack of specialists in the job market and the inclusion of a pediatrician at the Ensanche health center this Monday. Planned until pediatricians are found for these places.

Currently non-pediatric health areas are Cella, Albarracín, Mora de Rubielos, Mosqueruela, Sarrión, Utrillas, Aliaga, Alfambra, Cedrillas, Villel, and Teruel are part of Ensanche (Upper Formiche, Lower Formiche, La Puebla de Valverde, Villaspesa, Castralvo and Aldehuela).

The new pediatrician in Teruel Ensanche will join 1,774 health cards to perform health checks of healthy children in the rural areas of Cella, Albarracín, Mora, Sarrión, Alfambra, Cedrillas, Villel and Teruel Ensanche. Meanwhile, due to its distance from the capital, care will be continued in this health center in Mosqueruela region, which has a family doctor as it is now. Another solution is sought from the Primary Care Directorate for the regions of Utrillas and Aliağa (sharing the position of pediatrician).

Matilde Martínez made sure that this measure was chosen to offer the most timely attention to the child population. The Director of Primary Care stated that parents demanded that their children be looked after by pediatricians.

The health director noted that family physicians are trained to care for children, but it is check-ups that cause the most concern. Likewise, Martínez recalled that this is not the first time families have had to travel to the capital due to the lack of these specialists in the towns, as hospital checks are carried out at other times when these difficulties arise. . . . Now this care will be done from Primary Care in Teruel Ensanche with three and a half hours of consultations per day and patients will be called from health centres. Evaluations will be made in seven days, one month, two months, four months, six months, twelve months, 18 months, two years, four years, six years and twelve years.

Meanwhile, vaccinations will continue at two, four, eleven, twelve and fifteen months and at three, six and twelve years old in health centers where nursing services are provided. In addition, there will be a nursing review every nine months.

The reorganization of services is planned with the coordinators of health centers, who are given the freedom to adopt the most suitable formula for each health area for the care of the child population, in some cases there is a special consultation with a family. Consults any physician experienced in pediatric care and others.

Patients with a serious pathology are always requested to be cared for by a pediatrician, either in the hospital or by referral to another nearby health center, and gave the example of a small child cared for from Cella. In Santa Eulalia.

The Director of Primary Care underlined the tremendous effort by all healthcare professionals to give the entire population the best possible care for those who “lay their skin”. He also emphasized that the Health Administration continues to seek specialists to fill these positions and as soon as they are filled with pediatricians, controls will be made in the relevant health areas.

Sierra de Albarracín wants speed

The absence of pediatricians in rural areas creates discomfort among the population. Sierra de Albarracín’s fathers and mothers sent a letter to the Aragon Health Service demanding that the pediatrician’s withdrawal from Albarracín health center be dealt with “as soon as possible”.

In their letters, the families remember that the specialist who went to the Albarracín and Cella health centers in August had to take leave of absence and has since spent several weeks without a pediatrician, with exceptional check-ups on a weekly afternoon in Cella. They were informed that they should have a check-up at the health center and that emergency and disease follow-up would be done by family physicians. There are approximately 300 children aged 0-14 in this health zone.

Parents faced with this situation regret that these doctors are “not specially prepared for this” and assume that there is “an increase in care pressure” on doctors in the area, affecting the quality of care for the entire population. Families emphasize that there are towns more than an hour away from the city regarding the revision made in the capital, and this time increases when winter comes due to weather conditions.

The letter also reminds that the objectives of the Law on sustainable development in rural areas include “increasing the delivery of quality basic public services”, including health.

This ailment has also occurred in other healthcare areas such as Cedrillas. Pepe Polo, president of the Teruel Federation of Neighborhood Associations and member of the Aragon Health Council, argued that this is an “additional challenge for living in the region” and argued that there should be healthcare professionals traveling to the healthcare industry. centers if you want to encourage people to stay in villages. He also warned of the economic cost of these displacements for families and the difficulties of reconciling work and family.