The unions CCOO and Satse have warned of the closure of operating rooms in the afternoon shift of the Trueta hospital due to the lack of specialized nurses, a situation that has already forced two rooms to be left out of service during this month of April in Girona.
The warning comes as the center is scheduled to launch the new surgical block in the second half of June. Union representatives maintain that the shortage of nursing staff could compromise that deployment if the staff are not reinforced beforehand.
Two operating rooms closed in the afternoon in April
During April, two operating rooms of the afternoon shift have been out of service. Evening surgical activity was also reduced during Holy Week, in a context that unions link to the difficulty in covering the necessary teams.
Each operating room needs between two and three nurses to guarantee patient safety. That staffing, CCOO and Satse recall, is essential to maintain activity normally and to open new care spaces.
"If sufficient operating room nurses are not found, the activity planned for the new spaces cannot be deployed" - Unions CCOO and Satse
The opening of the new surgical block, in the air
The hospital foresees starting activity in the new surgical block in the second half of June. The unions warn that this launch will depend on the necessary staffing existing.
"If there is no necessary staffing, they cannot be opened" - Unions CCOO and Satse
The organizations also insist that temporality continues to be a problem in the workforce. In their opinion, the stabilization of positions will be decisive to consolidate the activity and avoid new restrictions in the afternoon shifts.
"For the moment there is still too much temporality, if more positions are not stabilized we have it difficult" - Unions CCOO and Satse
More accumulated operations, but less average per afternoon
Despite these difficulties, the number of accumulated operations until April has grown by 6.9% compared to the same period of 2025. The data reflects a global increase in surgical activity at the hospital.
In contrast, the average number of interventions per afternoon on weekdays during April 2026 has decreased. It has stood at 14 operations per afternoon compared to 15.25 last year, a difference that coincides with the reduction in activity and the closure of two operating rooms in that time slot.
The situation now opens a front on the eve of the planned expansion in the surgical area of Trueta, with unions demanding more job stability and reinforcements so that the lack of nurses does not limit the center's care capacity in the coming months.