the provincial deputy Soledad Salaburu (Frente de Todos) requested information from the Ministry of Health about the lack of professionals in the sectors of ophthalmology, dentistry and pediatrics, among other aspects related to public health in the province.
The legislator explained that the request for the reports arises “from the large number of demands we have had, not only from the banks, but from the places where we are active, which are users of public health, which are the most humble sectors of the population of Neuquén” and said that “they have told us that they come to give them shifts 5 or 6 months late”.
One of the projects of the representative of Frente de Todos emphasizes the situation faced by pediatric patients who must wait months for a referral for a comprehensive diagnosis of development, for cases of autism spectrum disorder. Regarding this, the deputy detailed in statements to LU5 that “in recent times we have had four queries related to developmental disorders, which are detected many times at school, the school requests the intervention of a specialist in order to obtain a diagnosis and work on it, and a developmental pediatrician is one only that it is part time at the Castro Rendón hospital”.
In addition, with regard to ophthalmology, he stressed that “with the use of the screen, difficulties in sight are observed and there is no way to get shifts in hospitals in the interior of the province, they are referred here and it takes 7 months to get a appointment with a specialist”.
On the other hand, Salaburu expressed his concern about the “massive resignation of doctors, which aggravates the health system.” He taking into account the exodus of professionals who stop working in Neuquén public health, to move to the private sector. And he warned of the importance of a “first intention to be able to resolve the exodus of doctors in the private system and to be able to provide and guarantee health, which if it is not provided to the entire population, it is not a right, it ends up being a privilege.”
It is for this reason that the legislator wants to know this information in detail, taking into account the importance of early care and diagnosis for children. “We make a request for a report to alert public health, to solve this” since “37% of the population uses the health system,” concluded the deputy for the Front of All in LU5.