ATC situation in Spain
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p_perez,
Firstly, as a professional pilot I find the working terms and conditions being imposed upon yourselves an absolute disgrace, and at direct conflict with the interests of Flight Safety!
Use the safety conditions of other nations to fight your case, as 10W suggests, looking at the UK SCRATOCH document is an excellent example.
I have always found Spanish ATC to be helpful and courteous - long may it remain
With regards to the examples quoted regarding priorties given to national aircraft, I can only say that on many occasions I have experienced exactly the same as them, not so much from ACC's, but definately from TMA and airfield controllers
This gives an extremely poor pilot perception of Spanish ATC. This isn't necessarily fair, but it only has to happen a few times for a perception to be formed.
Before I'm shot down here by ATCO's for not knowing the 'full' picture at the time, on occasions you MAY well be correct. On many occasions the picture is indeed VERY clear. Examples:-
1. Having been followed 15 in trail by a Spanish aircraft for most of route, handed over to destination TMA sector in trail, followed by full STAR and huge speed reduction. National carrier behind instructed direct to Initial Approach Fix and told 320kt. Yes, we land number 2 to the national.
2. In the hold at LEPA only a few years ago, holding in progress for arrivals.
Spanish carrier 2 levels above in stack instructed to turn OFF transponder and given directions for leaving the stack. TCAS shows traffic dissapeared, and it's seen visually departing stack on approach sequence. It landed nicely ahead of foreign carriers holding.
I'm English, and work for a UK airline, but I do speak Spanish and as always all ATC/Spanish Carrier RT carried out in Spanish so that they think no one else knows whats 'going on'.... Unfortunately not always the case....
On both occasions have phoned the local unit supervisor once on the ground, both seemed embarassed that someone had understood what had been done, and offered no credible explanation. Incident 2 filed fromally to AENA through proper channels, who failed to investigate and report, as they fail to do on most occasions.
These are just 2 of MANY examples I have experienced inside Spanish airspace.....
My profession has plenty of examples of bad pilots, bad airmanship, which leads to some ATCO's as a generally bad perception of pilots. I suggest that we BOTH suffer from the same problems regarding perception, and that we all accept as usual the minority can badly tarnish the reputation of the majority....
My full support for your national situation, and my FULL support for SAFE and sensible working time practices to be reinstated URGENTLY.
Best wishes to you and your colleagues!!
30W
Firstly, as a professional pilot I find the working terms and conditions being imposed upon yourselves an absolute disgrace, and at direct conflict with the interests of Flight Safety!
Use the safety conditions of other nations to fight your case, as 10W suggests, looking at the UK SCRATOCH document is an excellent example.
I have always found Spanish ATC to be helpful and courteous - long may it remain
With regards to the examples quoted regarding priorties given to national aircraft, I can only say that on many occasions I have experienced exactly the same as them, not so much from ACC's, but definately from TMA and airfield controllers
This gives an extremely poor pilot perception of Spanish ATC. This isn't necessarily fair, but it only has to happen a few times for a perception to be formed.Before I'm shot down here by ATCO's for not knowing the 'full' picture at the time, on occasions you MAY well be correct. On many occasions the picture is indeed VERY clear. Examples:-
1. Having been followed 15 in trail by a Spanish aircraft for most of route, handed over to destination TMA sector in trail, followed by full STAR and huge speed reduction. National carrier behind instructed direct to Initial Approach Fix and told 320kt. Yes, we land number 2 to the national.
2. In the hold at LEPA only a few years ago, holding in progress for arrivals.
Spanish carrier 2 levels above in stack instructed to turn OFF transponder and given directions for leaving the stack. TCAS shows traffic dissapeared, and it's seen visually departing stack on approach sequence. It landed nicely ahead of foreign carriers holding.
I'm English, and work for a UK airline, but I do speak Spanish and as always all ATC/Spanish Carrier RT carried out in Spanish so that they think no one else knows whats 'going on'.... Unfortunately not always the case....
On both occasions have phoned the local unit supervisor once on the ground, both seemed embarassed that someone had understood what had been done, and offered no credible explanation. Incident 2 filed fromally to AENA through proper channels, who failed to investigate and report, as they fail to do on most occasions.
These are just 2 of MANY examples I have experienced inside Spanish airspace.....
My profession has plenty of examples of bad pilots, bad airmanship, which leads to some ATCO's as a generally bad perception of pilots. I suggest that we BOTH suffer from the same problems regarding perception, and that we all accept as usual the minority can badly tarnish the reputation of the majority....
My full support for your national situation, and my FULL support for SAFE and sensible working time practices to be reinstated URGENTLY.
Best wishes to you and your colleagues!!
30W
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I don't know who is first in the air, but why does an aircraft HAS to be first? Did they declare a pan or a mayday? Maybe I am misunderstanding this comment but in my view aircraft are just somewhere in a queue and nobody has to be in a certain position in this queue.
Why don't the Spanish ATC Union speak to the UK CAA about the UK's legal setup (SRATCOH) ?
their problem could become our problem one day
Yesterday I made a safety report (I enclosed my rosters) to AESA, telling them that in 34 four days (previously I posted 33, but I was wrong) Iīm only having 2 days off and my concerns about safety, as well as requesting them to take action.
And thanks to (almost) everybody for your support.
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Come on! We are not all that bad, are we?
That for me sums it up. Iīve seen some of the most downright embarrassing and dangerous controlling in Europe in Spain, encountered serious language problems and when I as a Pilot challenge anything itīs met with the most appalling attitude. You just seem to have no idea how poor your standards are and how high the standard is elsewhere e.g Germany, Britain, Denmark, Sweden.
I feel sorry for you if your terms and conditions are under threat but just go on strike, walk out and donīt come back until things are fixed, the childish way you are behaving is hard to stomach.
You talk about hate. I felt I fell into that category last week. Being held on the runway until the exact second of a CTOT, getting home at night time after an early start because of CTOTs that are **** all to do with congestion and everything to do with teacing your employers a lesson and then to top it off a serious runway incursion caused by piss poor controlling and met with an indifferent attitude. Time away from your family? What about my family? You stole almost ten hours in one week from me.
I also note that direct questions were asked about your salaries and they have been skirted around. Do Controllers in Spain earn 300,000 a year on average or not?
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Being held on the runway until the exact second of a CTOT
I also note that direct questions were asked about your salaries and they have been skirted around. Do Controllers in Spain earn 300,000 a year on average or not?
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Itīs got nothing to do with Flow at all and all to do with being bolshie. You have some leeway to be flexible a few minues either way and you choose to be pedantic.
Itīs the same when I say that I can easily be at the holding point in Palma in 10 minutes, 5 even, but you say I need 15 because itīs in the AIP. Then I get a two hour slot and the passengers, the oneīs that pay our salaries, are seriously inconvenienced. Making us sit on the runway until the exact moment of the slot, burning fuel, polluting your country.
Letīs cut the nonsense. Just be honest, you are sending a message and using the passengers as leverage.
There is talk of getting a job in other countries. Thatīs funny, who would take you with your low standards?
Itīs the same when I say that I can easily be at the holding point in Palma in 10 minutes, 5 even, but you say I need 15 because itīs in the AIP. Then I get a two hour slot and the passengers, the oneīs that pay our salaries, are seriously inconvenienced. Making us sit on the runway until the exact moment of the slot, burning fuel, polluting your country.
Letīs cut the nonsense. Just be honest, you are sending a message and using the passengers as leverage.
There is talk of getting a job in other countries. Thatīs funny, who would take you with your low standards?
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There is talk of getting a job in other countries. Thatīs funny, who would take you with your low standards?
That it is the reason why they are crying like small children.
If T&C aren't OK,leave company. It is so easy.
I suppose that Spain is normal country, so you could leave job without dead sentence as punishment.
but it is easier to divide people into three groups rather than work out solutions. Real solutions. Crying on the forum,is just that.Crying on the forum.
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[QUOTEItīs got nothing to do with Flow at all and all to do with being bolshie. You have some leeway to be flexible a few minues either way and you choose to be pedantic.][/QUOTE]
When I worked in a TWR some years ago I was very strict with the CTOT(before all this s**t started, so don't tell me it's a "being bolshie" matter) . The -5 +10 minutes is ONLY for departure sequence, if there's no departure sequence you have to depart at the exact CTOT time. And believe me, if we didn't comply we would receive a threatening letter from "up". Oh, and I was really tired of the "we could be at the holding poing fully ready in ten minutes" which actually meant missing the CTOT (with the +10 included).
Also, I must remind you that complying with a CTOTs is a safety issue, and I'm sick and tired of working in overloaded sectors (which sometimes means me complaining to TWR for not complying with the CTOTs). But it seems like "low standards" pilots like you don't care about it. The important issue here is not that you get home late, it's that you get there in one piece.
Answering your comments would really be childish, you are not worth my time.
When I worked in a TWR some years ago I was very strict with the CTOT(before all this s**t started, so don't tell me it's a "being bolshie" matter) . The -5 +10 minutes is ONLY for departure sequence, if there's no departure sequence you have to depart at the exact CTOT time. And believe me, if we didn't comply we would receive a threatening letter from "up". Oh, and I was really tired of the "we could be at the holding poing fully ready in ten minutes" which actually meant missing the CTOT (with the +10 included).
Also, I must remind you that complying with a CTOTs is a safety issue, and I'm sick and tired of working in overloaded sectors (which sometimes means me complaining to TWR for not complying with the CTOTs). But it seems like "low standards" pilots like you don't care about it. The important issue here is not that you get home late, it's that you get there in one piece.
That it is the reason why they are crying like small children
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Spanish ATC mega-salaries:
Concerning Spanish ATC salaries, the following is a translation from "El Mundo" newspaper and gives a summary of their salaries during 2009(This information is confirmed by all the major Spanish newspapers, such as El Pais, La Razon, Cinco Dias La Vanguardia, etc etc etc):
"Overall in Spain during 2009 there were 2,300 Air Traffic Controllers out of which 28 earned over 700,000 Euros, 135 earned more than 350,000 Euros, 713 hava a salary that averages between 360,000 and 540,000 Euros. Also a selected few earn more than 900,000 Euros." Even in 2007 the average annual salary taken home by Spanish Air Traffic Controllers was 304,874 Euros...... The lowest earning Spanish Air Controllers were a total of two who took home an annual salary of 90,000 Euros in 2008.
This is a scandalous situation when the vast majority of Spaniards don't earn much more than 1,000 Euros a month and many less than that. Even the Spanish President/Prime Minister has an annual salary that is under 92,000 Euros.
Concerning Spanish ATC salaries, the following is a translation from "El Mundo" newspaper and gives a summary of their salaries during 2009(This information is confirmed by all the major Spanish newspapers, such as El Pais, La Razon, Cinco Dias La Vanguardia, etc etc etc):
"Overall in Spain during 2009 there were 2,300 Air Traffic Controllers out of which 28 earned over 700,000 Euros, 135 earned more than 350,000 Euros, 713 hava a salary that averages between 360,000 and 540,000 Euros. Also a selected few earn more than 900,000 Euros." Even in 2007 the average annual salary taken home by Spanish Air Traffic Controllers was 304,874 Euros...... The lowest earning Spanish Air Controllers were a total of two who took home an annual salary of 90,000 Euros in 2008.
This is a scandalous situation when the vast majority of Spaniards don't earn much more than 1,000 Euros a month and many less than that. Even the Spanish President/Prime Minister has an annual salary that is under 92,000 Euros.
Last edited by DjerbaDevil; 26th Jun 2010 at 01:01.
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Quote: 135 earned more than 350,000 Euros, 713 hava a salary that averages between 360,000 and 540,000 Euros.
That's how much you can trust that. Also the infrastructure minister mentioned something like that in an interview with the press, such as that all controllers were earning over 350k a year and therefore the average salary was 300k (how can be the average smaller than the minimum they get? And how on earth he says that in front of many journo's and not one picks up on it? Nobody does math in school nowadays?). And also I believe he was referring to before tax salaries (is the only way he gets close to the real thing and then tax in Spain for that kind of dough goes well beyond 40%).
The minister was just orchestrating a media campaign to get the public opinion against the controllers. Nobody stopped to check if those figures were right cause it was a minister saying that. Politicians don't lie, do they?
Controllers in Spain earned really good wages, no doubt, but it was due to overtime. That was negotiated with the company (to whom it was cheaper to pay overtime than to train/hire controllers). The problem is that the company has built a lot (madrid terminal 5 BILLION, yes with a B as in 5000million , barcelona 7 Billion , etc) in the last couple of years and, heyho! they're short of cash. Someone has to pay for that (Not the ones deciding to build such expensive things, of course, after all they call the shots and pocketed millions each).
The story goes deeper than what the newspapers say. Way deeper, if you care to look.
That's how much you can trust that. Also the infrastructure minister mentioned something like that in an interview with the press, such as that all controllers were earning over 350k a year and therefore the average salary was 300k (how can be the average smaller than the minimum they get? And how on earth he says that in front of many journo's and not one picks up on it? Nobody does math in school nowadays?). And also I believe he was referring to before tax salaries (is the only way he gets close to the real thing and then tax in Spain for that kind of dough goes well beyond 40%).
The minister was just orchestrating a media campaign to get the public opinion against the controllers. Nobody stopped to check if those figures were right cause it was a minister saying that. Politicians don't lie, do they?
Controllers in Spain earned really good wages, no doubt, but it was due to overtime. That was negotiated with the company (to whom it was cheaper to pay overtime than to train/hire controllers). The problem is that the company has built a lot (madrid terminal 5 BILLION, yes with a B as in 5000million , barcelona 7 Billion , etc) in the last couple of years and, heyho! they're short of cash. Someone has to pay for that (Not the ones deciding to build such expensive things, of course, after all they call the shots and pocketed millions each).
The story goes deeper than what the newspapers say. Way deeper, if you care to look.
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Eurocontrol CFMU - ATFCM Users Manual (4.4.2. ATC)
d) A slot tolerance (-5 to +10) is available to ATC to organise the departure sequence.
When I worked in TWR, we were constantly reminded by our regional Flow office that if there was no departure sequence we had to stick to the CTOT, the slot window was not valid (a note allways posted on the GMC position and in every fax they sent about acft having departed not complying).
d) A slot tolerance (-5 to +10) is available to ATC to organise the departure sequence.
When I worked in TWR, we were constantly reminded by our regional Flow office that if there was no departure sequence we had to stick to the CTOT, the slot window was not valid (a note allways posted on the GMC position and in every fax they sent about acft having departed not complying).
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I'm sorry to say that, but in my opinion, a typical pilot will never understand the meaning and sense behind a CTOT. For them it's just a penalty, a cruel way for a nasty ATCo to humiliate them. I'm pretty sure it's because pilots usually don't have any knowledge of ATC. They rarely visit ATC facilities, they have little interest in our job. They don't receive much information about ATC during their training. These are the reasons that during flight, they are not aware of the fact, that there is a complex situation around them, where some conflicting decisions have to be made - for them it's only their aircraft, some other 'intruders' around them (of course it's obvious that these aircraft should have lower priority) and a stupid ATCo which i.e. gives them vectors for a too long final. I always wonder - how is it possible, that pilots are unable to understand, that next time it's THEM who will be waiting at the holding point and thinking 'why this damned ATC doesn't make more spacing to let us depart?!?!?!?!' 
Dear colleagues from the other side of the mic, please understand this: a TWR ATCo usually (95%) has nothing to do with the slot. Slots are due to weather, due to ACC staffing shortages etc. TWR ATCo must enforce the slot. It's one of his major duties. Personally, I think that sticking to the exact slot time is a bad idea, it doesn't help anything - aircraft may gain or loose some airtime due to wind, shortcuts etc. - it's quite heuristic. But yes, in theory aircraft shall depart on the exact CTOT time, that's how we are trained, and yes, there are some employers that check it on a regular basis and punish ATCos if they don't comply with the exact CTOT.
Dear colleagues from the other side of the mic, please understand this: a TWR ATCo usually (95%) has nothing to do with the slot. Slots are due to weather, due to ACC staffing shortages etc. TWR ATCo must enforce the slot. It's one of his major duties. Personally, I think that sticking to the exact slot time is a bad idea, it doesn't help anything - aircraft may gain or loose some airtime due to wind, shortcuts etc. - it's quite heuristic. But yes, in theory aircraft shall depart on the exact CTOT time, that's how we are trained, and yes, there are some employers that check it on a regular basis and punish ATCos if they don't comply with the exact CTOT.
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Yes, but for me this "no departure sequence = depart exact on CTOT" part is B/S. When working GND position, I always try to get everyone to the h/p as early as possible, and on TWR I will depart them as soon as possible, so yes, CTOT-5. Aiming at exact CTOT makes little sense, and in fact would add more workload. If it's called "tolerance", than it works both ways - I can delay someone for a better sequence, but I can also speed him up.
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"SOP can have all kinds of complete rubbish"
Read you 5 by 5. Problem here, as samotnik said, is that AENA is checking regularly for any ATCO doing anything out of the rules to punish them. They have their hands tied (it is my understanding that the employers have, on accasion, intruded on the operations and demanded from ATCO's to do things against the rules, threatening with disciplinary action if they wouldn't follow their command...but not protecting the staff if they would either since the rules still said it couldn't be done...so a very weird situation all in all).
A.
Read you 5 by 5. Problem here, as samotnik said, is that AENA is checking regularly for any ATCO doing anything out of the rules to punish them. They have their hands tied (it is my understanding that the employers have, on accasion, intruded on the operations and demanded from ATCO's to do things against the rules, threatening with disciplinary action if they wouldn't follow their command...but not protecting the staff if they would either since the rules still said it couldn't be done...so a very weird situation all in all).
A.
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The simile of the operating room
One upon a day, an hypothetical government in Spain unilaterally decided that the National Health System (NHS) was not efficient anymore, financially speaking, because they had built hospitals in remote areas that did not have patients to attend. These hospitals had cost millions of , because some construction companies and regional governments had been pushing for multimillion-euro contracts, apart from the real need for a hospital in the area. This had caused a huge deficit in the accounts of the NHS.
In parallel, a network of foreign companies had shown interest in participating in the privatization of these hospitals, after the payment of the appropriate bribes and/or illegal gratuities. Coinciding in time with an international financial crisis and under pressure from Europe to reduce the huge deficit, this hypothetical adrift government improvised ...
Instead of rationalizing the network of hospitals, the government decided to undertake a media campaign of harassment and demolition against operating room staff, who were "just" well-qualified workers. They began to be publicly accused of ruining the Spanish NHS. These scapegoats were going to pay the bill for an inefficient management, and a tangled web of political and economical interests. I. e. the director of the NHS was simultaneously during 6 months in his public office and in the board of directors of a very important construction company that was awarded with several multi-million contracts. Of course, this was a mere coincidence ...
People buy the idea that these measures are necessary because they will enjoy a cheaper and more efficient medical service. And public opinion and political forces welcome the measure because they do not understand technical details and a campaign of demagogy and political propaganda has been carried out with success.
Consequently, this hypothetical government, in collusion with certain directors of the hospitals, their friends in the construction companies, and certain allied political forces, decided to "excrete" a decree-law imposing new and abusive working conditions for operating room staff, to override their 1st Collective Agreement (T&Cīs), the Statute of Workers and the Spanish Constitution. The decree-law was written months before it was published, while they pretended they were still negotiating a new Collective Agreement with the legal trade union representing 96% of the staff of the operating rooms, and in fact certain clauses were introduced to benefit a network of companies and chosen individuals.
Months later, the media publish that waiting lists for surgery and other medical tests have increased in number and length of time, and medical errors have skyrocketed. People do not understand anything. Let us explain the causes.
Reduction of medical staff:
If before the decree-law an operation was carried out by 10 people, now only five are required to save up five salaries. The remaining five workers are overloaded and make mistakes. The quality of the service sinks and patients are treated like cattle. If families of the patients protests, the hospital directors blame the surgeons without remorse.
Reduction of time for rest:
Surgeons, anesthesiologists and nurses have their breaks reduced, both within and between shifts. If they enter service during the day, for every 7 hours they rest 1 hour 45 minutes (25%). But rest during the night is only one third of the time (33%), which means that sometimes they get only 3 hours of sleep. They perform their surgery quite sleepy and make more mistakes. If they protest, they get a disciplinary notice.
Between shifts there is no 12 hours of rest, as the law commands.
Increased workload:
Previously 3 surgical operations were performed a day. Now they are required to perform 6 with fewer staff. They also have to bring past paperwork to the operating room to complete it during surgery, and are required, under threat of a disciplinary notice, to complete also 56000 pages per month detailing everything they do. They are required upon arrival to the operating room to press a button on an stupid machine that emits a "ping" and that was previously forgotten in a corner of the room, but that was bought at an exorbitant price to a company that works with the owner of the hospital.
Surgeons are saturated. They demand a staff increase, but are told that actual staff is more than enough. In the meanwhile, a subsidiary company of the public hospitals offer an advanced master in surgery with a price of "only" 45000 .
Increasing the monthly working days, express recalls and random roster:
Staff in operating rooms are forced to work a number of days per month that is arbitrarily assigned by the hospitalīs director, the Health Minister and the text of the decree-law, without seeing their families in days, regardless of their Collective Agreement, the provisions of the Workers' Statute, and without the participation of the trade unionīs legal representants in these decisions, as it should be acording to the Spanish Constitution.
Some have only two days off per month, and even on those two days mandatory recalls ("express services") can be imposed.
Disappearance of the "sleeping day":
Before all this madness, after a night shift, an operating room worker had a full day of rest for a full recovery of his capacity. Not anymore. Traffic accidents have increased, because physicians are stressed and spend their life on the road, driving to and from work. When they arrive at home, get into bed without even saluting their children. When they wake up they are in a bad mood. They eat poorly, sleep poorly, have circadian disarray, personal issues are neglected, and they never know on what day of the week or month they are.
Some begin to get sick leaves because they can not stand it any more. They are afraid of making a mistake that could cost a patient his life. When they are under legal sick leaves, certified by doctors from the NHS, hospital managers accuse them of labour absenteeism and put them under surveillance of detectives and inspectors. Not a single case of absenteeism is ever detected, but it doesnīt matter: people already got the "official" message, and consider these workers as scum.
Publication of procedure without previous studies:
In the middle of a surgery, the operating room staff receive a letter from the hospital director and his deputy of accountability requiring them to reduce the number of vials of plasma for transfusion, and are asked to recycle the medical cotton gauzes. The hospital director, who is an engineer, forces the surgeon to use certain scalpel and not any other, because he is the boss of the movie.
Permanently available:
The operating room staff know their work roster with only 10 days notice, and they can not plan ahead their personal life. They can be imposed a mandatory recall ("express service") "to ensure the continuity of the Health Service and the financial viability of the NHS". Negation to accept is "rewarded" with a disciplinary notice.
Low-cost medical service:
The "beancounters" begin to hire unemployed "professionals" from Southeast Asia. They do not speak Spanish, and their medical license is accepted by the "beancounters" because they are in a hurry. They rapidly integrate them in the operating room teams, but because of their limited Spanish skills, they make constant mistakes. The surgeon has real problems to communicate with the anesthesiologist or with the nurse in the middle of the operation.
Staff from certain hospitals with few patients are transferred to other hospitals with more work. In the former hospitals, a low-cost medical service is implemented, provided by itinerant butchers and tooth-pullers. Some automatic machines are also installed: now anyone can get a "sanitary" treatment (they canīt call it "medical" treatment, because not doctor intervenes). They mislead the people, as they are told that this new system will offer the same level of safety and quality in the medical service.
Bullying and mobbing environment:
Each day, upon arriving their workplace, medical professionals receive plenty of written guidance on various operational matters and are threatened with a disciplinary notice and punishment if they refuse to comply the guidelines, no matter they may be safe or not. When written requests for clarification or information are filed, they get administrative silence as an answer, and referred to the text of the decree-law.
Middle managers are coerced by the threat of a disciplinary notice if they donīt press the staff to work in these conditions. Hospitals look and feel like a concentration camp.
If doctors decide to publicly denounce their working conditions and warn of the risks to the patient's health, then they are accused of irresponsible behavior and causing false public alarm.
Public scorn:
The health minister, a man with only high school formation, but very loyal to his political party, is out constantly in the media beating the health professionals black and blue. Their children no longer dare to admit that their parents are doctors, or anesthesiologists, or nurses.
The hospital directors publicy state in the media that Spanish surgeons are working to the rule, and that they are bad professionals, thus contributing to the moral degradation of the health collective. It's like if the NASA proclaimed their astronauts were just a bucket-full of ****.
Lack of transparency:
The directors of the hospitals prohibit the entry of journalists. Visit permits have to be requested with at least 5 days notice (half the time monthly rosters are released for workers), and are scrutinized by the managers. The purpose is to hide the actual conditions of the operating rooms because if they were disclosed, they would be unmasked in front of everybody, and resignations and dismissals would have to be executed, and a political price would have to be paid.
Lack of independence of the regulator and the provider:
An executive from Bayer is appointed as director of the National Agency of Medicines .
Economic pressures, politicization, privatization and fraud to consumers and users:
Certain companies that manufacture Surgical material pressure on hospitals to buy their material at the best price. Hospitals and the government calm them and tell them that yes, do not worry, when we finish with the high salaries of surgeons and their privileged T&Cīs, there will be money for everyone. The citizens paid the construction and equipment of the hospitals with their taxes, but now they will have to pay for each medical procedure because hospitals have been sold to private companies. Citizens pay twice for their NHS, and get an infamous service.
Would you undergo surgery in this hospital? Demand the truth: your health is at stake.
In parallel, a network of foreign companies had shown interest in participating in the privatization of these hospitals, after the payment of the appropriate bribes and/or illegal gratuities. Coinciding in time with an international financial crisis and under pressure from Europe to reduce the huge deficit, this hypothetical adrift government improvised ...
Instead of rationalizing the network of hospitals, the government decided to undertake a media campaign of harassment and demolition against operating room staff, who were "just" well-qualified workers. They began to be publicly accused of ruining the Spanish NHS. These scapegoats were going to pay the bill for an inefficient management, and a tangled web of political and economical interests. I. e. the director of the NHS was simultaneously during 6 months in his public office and in the board of directors of a very important construction company that was awarded with several multi-million contracts. Of course, this was a mere coincidence ...
People buy the idea that these measures are necessary because they will enjoy a cheaper and more efficient medical service. And public opinion and political forces welcome the measure because they do not understand technical details and a campaign of demagogy and political propaganda has been carried out with success.
Consequently, this hypothetical government, in collusion with certain directors of the hospitals, their friends in the construction companies, and certain allied political forces, decided to "excrete" a decree-law imposing new and abusive working conditions for operating room staff, to override their 1st Collective Agreement (T&Cīs), the Statute of Workers and the Spanish Constitution. The decree-law was written months before it was published, while they pretended they were still negotiating a new Collective Agreement with the legal trade union representing 96% of the staff of the operating rooms, and in fact certain clauses were introduced to benefit a network of companies and chosen individuals.
Months later, the media publish that waiting lists for surgery and other medical tests have increased in number and length of time, and medical errors have skyrocketed. People do not understand anything. Let us explain the causes.
Reduction of medical staff:
If before the decree-law an operation was carried out by 10 people, now only five are required to save up five salaries. The remaining five workers are overloaded and make mistakes. The quality of the service sinks and patients are treated like cattle. If families of the patients protests, the hospital directors blame the surgeons without remorse.
Reduction of time for rest:
Surgeons, anesthesiologists and nurses have their breaks reduced, both within and between shifts. If they enter service during the day, for every 7 hours they rest 1 hour 45 minutes (25%). But rest during the night is only one third of the time (33%), which means that sometimes they get only 3 hours of sleep. They perform their surgery quite sleepy and make more mistakes. If they protest, they get a disciplinary notice.
Between shifts there is no 12 hours of rest, as the law commands.
Increased workload:
Previously 3 surgical operations were performed a day. Now they are required to perform 6 with fewer staff. They also have to bring past paperwork to the operating room to complete it during surgery, and are required, under threat of a disciplinary notice, to complete also 56000 pages per month detailing everything they do. They are required upon arrival to the operating room to press a button on an stupid machine that emits a "ping" and that was previously forgotten in a corner of the room, but that was bought at an exorbitant price to a company that works with the owner of the hospital.
Surgeons are saturated. They demand a staff increase, but are told that actual staff is more than enough. In the meanwhile, a subsidiary company of the public hospitals offer an advanced master in surgery with a price of "only" 45000 .
Increasing the monthly working days, express recalls and random roster:
Staff in operating rooms are forced to work a number of days per month that is arbitrarily assigned by the hospitalīs director, the Health Minister and the text of the decree-law, without seeing their families in days, regardless of their Collective Agreement, the provisions of the Workers' Statute, and without the participation of the trade unionīs legal representants in these decisions, as it should be acording to the Spanish Constitution.
Some have only two days off per month, and even on those two days mandatory recalls ("express services") can be imposed.
Disappearance of the "sleeping day":
Before all this madness, after a night shift, an operating room worker had a full day of rest for a full recovery of his capacity. Not anymore. Traffic accidents have increased, because physicians are stressed and spend their life on the road, driving to and from work. When they arrive at home, get into bed without even saluting their children. When they wake up they are in a bad mood. They eat poorly, sleep poorly, have circadian disarray, personal issues are neglected, and they never know on what day of the week or month they are.
Some begin to get sick leaves because they can not stand it any more. They are afraid of making a mistake that could cost a patient his life. When they are under legal sick leaves, certified by doctors from the NHS, hospital managers accuse them of labour absenteeism and put them under surveillance of detectives and inspectors. Not a single case of absenteeism is ever detected, but it doesnīt matter: people already got the "official" message, and consider these workers as scum.
Publication of procedure without previous studies:
In the middle of a surgery, the operating room staff receive a letter from the hospital director and his deputy of accountability requiring them to reduce the number of vials of plasma for transfusion, and are asked to recycle the medical cotton gauzes. The hospital director, who is an engineer, forces the surgeon to use certain scalpel and not any other, because he is the boss of the movie.
Permanently available:
The operating room staff know their work roster with only 10 days notice, and they can not plan ahead their personal life. They can be imposed a mandatory recall ("express service") "to ensure the continuity of the Health Service and the financial viability of the NHS". Negation to accept is "rewarded" with a disciplinary notice.
Low-cost medical service:
The "beancounters" begin to hire unemployed "professionals" from Southeast Asia. They do not speak Spanish, and their medical license is accepted by the "beancounters" because they are in a hurry. They rapidly integrate them in the operating room teams, but because of their limited Spanish skills, they make constant mistakes. The surgeon has real problems to communicate with the anesthesiologist or with the nurse in the middle of the operation.
Staff from certain hospitals with few patients are transferred to other hospitals with more work. In the former hospitals, a low-cost medical service is implemented, provided by itinerant butchers and tooth-pullers. Some automatic machines are also installed: now anyone can get a "sanitary" treatment (they canīt call it "medical" treatment, because not doctor intervenes). They mislead the people, as they are told that this new system will offer the same level of safety and quality in the medical service.
Bullying and mobbing environment:
Each day, upon arriving their workplace, medical professionals receive plenty of written guidance on various operational matters and are threatened with a disciplinary notice and punishment if they refuse to comply the guidelines, no matter they may be safe or not. When written requests for clarification or information are filed, they get administrative silence as an answer, and referred to the text of the decree-law.
Middle managers are coerced by the threat of a disciplinary notice if they donīt press the staff to work in these conditions. Hospitals look and feel like a concentration camp.
If doctors decide to publicly denounce their working conditions and warn of the risks to the patient's health, then they are accused of irresponsible behavior and causing false public alarm.
Public scorn:
The health minister, a man with only high school formation, but very loyal to his political party, is out constantly in the media beating the health professionals black and blue. Their children no longer dare to admit that their parents are doctors, or anesthesiologists, or nurses.
The hospital directors publicy state in the media that Spanish surgeons are working to the rule, and that they are bad professionals, thus contributing to the moral degradation of the health collective. It's like if the NASA proclaimed their astronauts were just a bucket-full of ****.
Lack of transparency:
The directors of the hospitals prohibit the entry of journalists. Visit permits have to be requested with at least 5 days notice (half the time monthly rosters are released for workers), and are scrutinized by the managers. The purpose is to hide the actual conditions of the operating rooms because if they were disclosed, they would be unmasked in front of everybody, and resignations and dismissals would have to be executed, and a political price would have to be paid.
Lack of independence of the regulator and the provider:
An executive from Bayer is appointed as director of the National Agency of Medicines .
Economic pressures, politicization, privatization and fraud to consumers and users:
Certain companies that manufacture Surgical material pressure on hospitals to buy their material at the best price. Hospitals and the government calm them and tell them that yes, do not worry, when we finish with the high salaries of surgeons and their privileged T&Cīs, there will be money for everyone. The citizens paid the construction and equipment of the hospitals with their taxes, but now they will have to pay for each medical procedure because hospitals have been sold to private companies. Citizens pay twice for their NHS, and get an infamous service.
Would you undergo surgery in this hospital? Demand the truth: your health is at stake.
Last edited by p_perez; 16th Jul 2010 at 22:48. Reason: Corrections ...
Join Date: Apr 2002
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Couldn't get a direct at Fl450 the other day after spending 30 minutes asking to get there - bloody ridiculous, just go out on strike...... but it appears you intend to inflict misery on the people that can help you the least.
Or perhaps you are too worried about public perception
Or perhaps you are too worried about public perception