Tenerife Hospital Overwhelmed, Groups Demand Urgent Care Center
The Platform for a Public Hospital in South Tenerife is pressuring the Cabildo to immediately build a social and health care center, arguing the Hospital del Sur is overwhelmed with long-term patients due to a lack of facilities and unfulfilled promises.
A group called the Platform for a Public Hospital in South Tenerife is putting more pressure on the Cabildo de Tenerife (Tenerife Island Council). They want the council to immediately build a social and health care center next to the existing El Mojón facility. The group says that after years of broken promises and delays, the lack of proper facilities for patients with long-term illnesses or those who need ongoing care has overwhelmed the region's healthcare. They claim the hospital is now effectively acting as a long-term care home.
This demand comes after a key meeting between the Platform and the 'No Somos de Segunda' (We Are Not Second Class) Association, which campaigns for good healthcare and palliative care. Both groups have teamed up to highlight a situation they call 'unsustainable,' which is directly impacting the quality of care for thousands of people living in the south of the island.
The most worrying issue, according to these groups, is that about 60% of beds at the Hospital del Sur are taken up by patients who have been discharged but can't go home. This is because there aren't enough social and health care facilities to look after them. They describe this as an 'exceptional' problem nationwide, which severely limits the hospital's ability to perform surgeries and admit patients with urgent conditions.
They argue that the hospital is currently being used more for social and long-term care than for acute hospital treatment. They see this as a clear betrayal of promises made to the public, who were expecting a fully functioning regional hospital. Instead, they have a facility struggling with dependency care, which is the Cabildo's responsibility.
Their criticism focuses on the lack of action regarding an agreement signed in April 2023. This agreement, between the Canary Islands Government's Ministry of Health and the Cabildo de Tenerife, guaranteed that land next to the hospital would be available to build a 200-bed social and health care center. This center is crucial for easing the pressure on the hospital.
However, the Platform points out that by early 2026, no real progress has been made on building it. They complain that 'almost three years after the agreement was signed, the land is still empty, and the project seems to have been forgotten.' This delay not only harms patients but also costs public money. They estimate that keeping discharged patients in acute hospital beds costs the Canary Islands nearly 200 million euros each year. They call this an inefficient and avoidable expense if social and health care facilities were given priority. Both groups warn that their demands could become more extreme if nothing changes.
The alliance between the Platform for a Public Hospital and the 'No Somos de Segunda' Association aims to push authorities to make expanding hospital and surgical services a top priority. The groups stress that this crisis isn't just about money; it has a deep human cost, restricting people's access to specialist operations and treatments.
People in southern Tenerife are warning that they won't tolerate any more delays. They believe that with the land ready and the need clearly shown, building the social and health care center is the only way for the Hospital del Sur to become the modern health facility the region needs and deserves.