Booing in Torrevieja over delays in the Emergency Department and the hospital’s “collapse”

The Platform for 100% Public and Quality Healthcare in Torrevieja has asked people to join a protest against “the slow decline of the healthcare system and the collapse of the Torrevieja Hospital.”

A few days ago, the SATSE union, like the platform has done many times before, spoke out against the collapse of the hospital centre’s Emergency Department, which caused hospitalisations to take up to 60 hours.

Works that never happens

They also said that investments in health infrastructure have been put on hold for 20 years in a department with about a quarter of a million registered residents, even though the population is growing quickly. This includes the health centre in Orihuela Costa, the expansion of the one in Guardamar or San Miguel de Salinas, the Los Montesinos clinic, La Loma II in Torrevieja, and, most importantly, the much-needed second hospital for the department.

Recommendations for private healthcare

They called it “a very deficient public health service” because the Torrevieja health department gets almost 600 euros less per person on average than the Valencian Community. They also said that “the inability of the public system to respond to the demand of its population inevitably benefits private healthcare.”

They stressed that “delays in public healthcare for primary care, diagnostic tests, appointments with specialist doctors, or surgical operations result in constant and substantial profits for private healthcare and put patients’ lives at risk. We all know relatives or friends from our department who are routinely referred, not as an exception, to Quirón, Vinalopó, or other private clinics in the area for consultations, diagnostic tests, or operations.”

Call to action

They highlighted that “we cannot remain silent and accept a way of proceeding that puts our lives at risk every day,” because “healthcare is a service, not a business.” They also called for “saying no to the health policy of parasitising public health.”

So, the platform has made 10 essential and important demands for better healthcare in the department and asked the people to support the protest that will take place in the Plaza de la Constitución in Torrevieja on Saturday, February 7th, at 11:30 a.m.

Requests for changes to the Torrevieja Health Department

Making the Torrevieja department’s budget equal by adding €557 per person to the 2026 budgets.
That the GV’s 2026 budgets include the building of the second hospital for the Torrevieja health department.
The start of the work, which was promised but then stopped, to expand and improve the health centres in Guardamar, Orihuela-Costa, La Loma 11, San Miguel de Salinas, and the outpatient clinic in Los Montesinos.
End the deal with the healthcare employers’ group for emergency care. This makes the public healthcare system weaker. The CICU (Emergency Information and Coordination Centre) in Torrevieja sends serious or multi-morbid cases to the Torrevieja Hospital and the rest of the patients to the Quirón Hospital.
The cancellation of the extension contract for the Ribera Salud computer software that keeps track of our medical records because it makes things harder and hurts patients, and it stops data from being added to the public health system network.
That the average wait time for appointments in primary and specialised care, diagnostics, and surgeries in the Valencian Community be met.
That everyone who is at risk gets screened for breast cancer, cervical cancer, and colon cancer.
That Torrevieja no longer has the longest wait times in the hospital’s Emergency Department among all the Autonomous Communities, and that the wait times become the same as the average in the Valencian Community.
A regular public transit system that makes it easy for everyone in the department to get to the hospital for health care.
A plan for keeping an eye on cancer in the department.