The Non-Urgent Medical Transport Board (TSNU), managed by the Canary Emergency Service (SUC), has reported severe incidents at its base in northern Tenerife over the past two days. These acts have rendered over twenty vehicles inoperable, significantly disrupting service provision.
The initial incidents occurred on Monday, leaving 12 transport units out of service early in the morning, with two more affected later. This necessitated a critical reorganization of services, prioritizing vital treatments like hemodialysis and suspending others. The situation resulted in 53 missed treatments, primarily in the northern and metropolitan areas.
Upon accessing the facility, it was found that four resources remained inoperable due to staffing shortages, bringing the total number of missed non-vital treatments to 59. Additionally, two units at the Santa Cruz base sustained tire damage, though these were quickly resolved.
On Tuesday morning, damage recurred at the north base's access point, preventing 14 medical resources from starting their scheduled shifts. This has led, for the second consecutive day, to route readaptations and the inability to accommodate non-vital transfers, ensuring attention for patients requiring urgent treatments.
Consequently, 34 rehabilitation treatments were lost, affecting centers such as ICOT La Orotava, the University Hospital of the Canary Islands, and Hospiten Tamaragua. To cover vital demand in the north, two resources were dispatched from Santa Cruz, resulting in the loss of two more rehabilitation treatments and a delay for a chemotherapy patient at the University Hospital Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria.
The contracting company also reported that four other resources were inoperable due to incomplete or partial staffing, impacting 16 patients undergoing rehabilitation treatment at four hospital centers, including the contracted center Icot Santa Cruz.
