The objective is to decrease the concentration of patients and protect the professionals and population at greatest risk
The Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands, through the General Directorate of Assistance Programs, has reorganized the activity of Hospital Management, Primary Care and Health Services in the Canary Islands due to the COVID19 pandemic. The objective is to decrease the concentration of patients in the centres, especially in the most sensitive areas, protecting the health of professionals and the population as a whole.
Primary Care consultations are to be maintained as long as the current situation does not change. Calling 012 will offer the possibility for patients to be consulted by telephone, with professionals at a scheduled time made for telephone contact with the patient directly.
Scheduled and follow-up consultations with different health programs will be replaced by telephone consultation whenever possible and when the situation of the service user allows it, while in the case of children’s health programs, those under 15 months linked to vaccination will be prioritised.
Requests for issuance of renewal of medical prescriptions (Treatment Plans) can be managed through a telephone consultation, leaving it to the doctor’s discretion to assess the need to go to the Health Center or not, through a service that was enabled this week.
Likewise, the measures adopted will increase the interpersonal distance both within queues and in waiting areas, insisting that patients come to the centre unaccompanied, unless age or clinical situation requires it.
The following activities at health centres has been suspended: spirometry, retinographies, meetings of tobacco groups, lactation groups, groups for preparing for childbirth and any group, school or community-based activities, as well as intra-team training, except those essential in relation to measures to be taken related to the coronavirus pandemic.
On the other hand, activities such as the extraction of samples will be reorganized, keeping urgent cases and suspending or postponing delayable ones.
Regarding Hospital Care, the activity of external consultations is to be maintained, as much as possible, with professionals assessing those in which physical assistance of the patient can be avoided. In addition, the first consultations of each specialty and the subsequent preferential or urgent ones will be prioritized.
Appointments will be kept in the agendas, and in those cases where the absence of the patient is possible, the health professional will try to contact them by phone to assess their clinical situation and communicate test results.
Surgical activity will be limited, in the case of scheduled surgery, to neoplastic pathology and those whose delay may mean a significant deterioration in the patient’s health status and 100% of urgent surgery will be carried out. Scheduled admissions are to be maintained for surgical or therapeutic procedures that do not require, a priori, admission to critical care beds.
The Ministry of Health has stated that these measures are dynamic and could be modified depending on the evolution of the situation of the pandemic due to the COVID-19 coronavirus.
