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Unbearable heat in Basque hospitals: polos for staff and febrile patients in Cruces

The SATSE union denounces the lack of air conditioning and a preventive plan in Osakidetza, stating the situation repeats annually.

Generic image: A hospital room in Euskadi with a thermometer showing slight fever, warm ambient light.
IA

Generic image: A hospital room in Euskadi with a thermometer showing slight fever, warm ambient light.

The SATSE union denounces the unbearable heat in Osakidetza hospitals, highlighting the severe situation faced by staff and patients, and demanding effective measures.

The nursing union SATSE has denounced the "unbearable heat" suffered by professionals and patients in Osakidetza centers, describing the situation as "brutal". The union advocates for the necessity of "a preventive plan prior to the summer period". They assert that, despite Labor Inspection having sided with them on several occasions, "Osakidetza seemingly ignores the needs of citizens and staff".
According to SATSE's complaint, current measures are "ridiculous", such as providing "polos" to professionals, who are also forced to buy their own fans. This is the account given to COPE Euskadi by Silvia Abascal, a delegate for the Nursing Union at Cruces Hospital in Bizkaia, where on Thursday there were "patients with mild fever" due to the suffocating heat, preventing them from being "discharged".
The consequences of high temperatures are felt across all three provinces. Here are some examples: lack of air conditioning at Txagorritxu hospital (Araba), vinyl stickers on the windows of Basurto hospital (Bizkaia), and the inability to open windows at Bidasoa (Gipuzkoa) due to ongoing construction work.
The heat also affects the "functioning of diagnostic equipment", which led to postponed appointments last year or the suspension of physiotherapy treatments.
This problem, defined by the union as "structural and chronic", recurs annually due to "lack of planning and investment in adequate resources". Professionals have endured temperatures of up to 32 degrees Celsius with 47% humidity, according to SATSE.
SATSE warns that it will continue to report "all deficiencies related to heat" to the prevention units and does not rule out approaching the Labor Inspection again "to guarantee the safety of staff and users".
For all these reasons, the Nursing Union urgently demands "an action plan with concrete measures" that must include hiring staff to "avoid bed closures, fatigue, and the physical and mental overload of professionals".
The union emphasizes that "investment is necessary in air conditioning, maintenance, and infrastructure renewal" that considers "all workplaces within Osakidetza, including those carried out outdoors, Primary Care, and Emergencies".

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