An increase in doctors and nurses taking retirement in the Alicante province has exacerbated the already pressurised staffing situation at hospitals and health centres across the province. The situation is largely due to the global pandemic, which experts believe has caused an increase in medics retiring due to stress and fatigue. Unions warned of shortages in many departments such as general practitioners and anesthesiology.
Data provided by the Ministry of Health indicated that in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, there was a 58% increase in resignations by doctors and nurses. In 2019, 205 people gave up work while in 2020, that figure rose to 324. Figures up to August of this year show that already, 165 doctors and nurses have resigned. Unions have warned that many medical professionals leave when there is no one available to replace them due to an existing staffing shortage. The shortage impacts directly on the patient with more waiting lists and further delays. Rosa Atiénzar, Health Secretary of workers union CCOO said, “There is not a sufficient number of specialists being trained to guarantee that all the retirements which will take place in the coming years will be covered.”
Figures are unclear on how many medical professionals were asked to delay their retirement in 2020 but medical unions pointed out that a large number of medics are taking the opportunity to hang up their white coat as soon as it comes at age 65, largely due to the fatigue and stress caused over the last 18 months. This is despite that fact that health authorities allow the retirement age for doctors to be extended to 67, and in certain cases even 70. President of the Valencian Community’s Medical Union, Victor Pedrera said, “It is very noticeable that the retirement age has lowered, it can be easily verified looking at union membership figures. Before, almost everyone asked to work until they were 67 years old and now they are leaving at 65.” In some specialties, such as Family Medicine, this exodus is even greater, according to Pedrera.
Atiénzar criticized the slow pace at which the Health Ministry fills vacancies saying, “Only now people who passed the oposiciones (exams) four years ago are joining. We can’t be that slow. We need to engage and attract professionals from abroad with attractive and stable contracts, because otherwise they will continue to go abroad.”