Lleida hosts from this Thursday at La Llotja the 38th Congress of the Catalan Society of Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology and the 9th Congress of the Society of Nursing in COT, with more than 280 professionals gathered to address the situation of the specialty and its healthcare challenges.
The main contrast that emerged during the day came with the healthcare labor market. While the city's traumatology services highlight advances that allow them to handle complex cases without referrals outside Lleida, their managers admit that it remains difficult to attract doctors and nursing staff to the territory.
Colomina and Marín admit that attracting doctors to Lleida remains difficult
Jordi Colomina, coordinator of the Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology Service of the Santa Maria Hospital, and Jaime Marín, territorial director of the Territorial COT Service, identified the lack of professionals as one of the main problems in the sector in the demarcation.
"Lleida is not an attractive city for many doctors; those from Barcelona want to stay in Barcelona and coming here is complicated. This is the problem" - Jordi Colomina, coordinator of the Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology Service of the Santa Maria Hospital, and Jaime Marín, territorial director of the Territorial COT Service
Both maintained that increasing the number of places in the Medicine degree will only have a real effect if this increase is accompanied by more MIR places. They also pointed out that the reinforcement will only be sufficient when it finally translates into new specialists.
In parallel, they recalled that the ministry is streamlining the validation of titles of foreign professionals, especially from Latin America, as one of the ways to fill vacancies in the healthcare system.
Lleida hospitals avoid external referrals for femur and hip fractures
During the congress, medical managers highlighted the advances made in the treatment of femur and hip fractures in elderly patients. In this area, they stressed that they practically do not refer anyone outside the city, a figure they presented as evidence of the healthcare capacity achieved in Lleida.
The event, which is being held for the third time in the capital of Segrià, brought together professionals linked to the Santa Maria Hospital and the Arnau de Vilanova, two of the city's reference centers for traumatological care.
In addition to the shortage of doctors, the speakers addressed the organization of on-call duties. Colomina and Marín showed themselves to be in favor of rethinking 24-hour on-call duties, considering that they represent an overexertion for many professionals in a context of increased healthcare demand.
Duran and Agustí warn of the lack of succession among nurses
The pressure on staffing also focused part of the congress from the nursing perspective. Júlia Duran, supervisor of the nursing team at Arnau de Vilanova hospital, and Sara Agustí, a professional in Traumatology consultations, defended multidisciplinary work in the care of these patients.
Both warned of the lack of generational succession and the shortage of nurses in Lleida, a deficiency that affects the continuity of teams along with the difficulties already mentioned in incorporating specialist doctors.
More than 280 professionals are participating in the meeting, which is being held at La Llotja, the third time this congress has been held in the city of Lleida.