Ambulance staff in Girona denounce the “bad condition” of vehicles that “drive with 550,000 kilometers”

2023-09-02 09:36:45

He ambulance staff in Girona denounces the “bad condition” of vehicles that “travel with 550,000 kilometers on average”. The general secretary of CCOO health transport in Girona, Ivan Codinach, explains that this happens because “they are bought at the beginning of the tender and are not changed” and he assures that it causes “a rush of ambulances in and out of the workshops” . In addition, the sector also criticizes the “lack of staff” which “forces them to work overtime” to cover, especially in the summer, the increase in population on the Costa Brava. In the same way, they are demanding from the concessionaire company (Transport Sanitari de Catalunya) to pay them the “close to a thousand euros” that they are claiming to the almost 600 workers in the Girona area.

The workers of Girona’s private health transport report that they work in the demarcation with “deteriorated” ambulances that accumulate “between 400,000 and 700,000 kilometers”. The general secretary of sanitary transport of CCOO in Girona, Ivan Codinach, explains that “they can drive because they pass the ITV”, but criticizes that their condition “limits” them because it causes the vehicles “to have to repeatedly enter the workshop for breakdowns ” putting them out of service.

Codinach also maintains that the kilometers driven by the ambulances “affect the patient’s comfort, with damaged stretchers and benches” and their safety. As he explains, there have been cases where “fumes from the engine have leaked into the driver’s cabin and the patient cabin” which could intoxicate them.

manca of staff

At the same time, the sector also denounces what it considers a “lack of personnel” and which they attribute to “bad working conditions”. “We are facing an unusual situation of lack of relief for those who are retiring,” says the general secretary of health transport of CCOO in Girona. Codinach explains that private health transport staff are assigned “the minimum category with low wages” and this, he believes, causes “new workers not to see projection in the company and opt for other sectors such as Firefighters or Police”.

In fact, the salary is a demand that has been dragging from the sector for some time. The workers of concessionary companies such as Transport Sanitari de Catalunya (TSC) complain about the labor and salary differences suffered by public workers of the Medical Emergency System (SEM).

Now, the nearly 600 TSC workers in the Girona area are demanding that the company pay them the nearly one thousand euros per head they say they have been owed for almost half a year. “We have a conflict over the non-payments of our awarded company here in Girona”, complains Ivan Codinach, who insists on saying that “agreements are reached and never fulfilled”.

Extra hours to cover the coast

In the summer, this lack of staff they describe means that workers from the other counties have to travel to the Costa Brava to cover the increase in population that the coastal area suffers when the temperatures rise. “They move us from the usual bases and put us on the coast to do the reinforcement”, explains Codinach, who details that “these extra hours are on the calendar and must be done because they cannot be covered due to the lack of personnel”.

For private health transport staff, taking out this cover means they “start much earlier to be able to commute” from their usual base on the coast with journeys that can exceed an hour’s drive. In addition, they also criticize that this coverage means “wear and tear on their own vehicles” which is why, they criticize, they don’t cover the mileage.

In relation to a possible neglect of other points in the regions of Girona during the summer when it is necessary to increase the staff on the coast, Codinach makes it clear that this does not happen and that “all areas are equally covered”. Of course, he affirms that the staff are more tired because “the workers bear more load”.

The general secretary of health transport of CCOO in Girona warns that, coinciding with the end of summer, “we could find areas uncovered by units that cannot work” due to the fatigue of the staff added to the wear and tear accumulated by the vehicles.