Portal de Lorca
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The councilor of this formation, Gloria Martín, explained that on September 22, she informed the local authorities of the death of a patient in this health center, in whose part of death it seems that respiratory failure appears as the cause of death, although the funeral home applied an internal anti-covid protocol and did not allow relatives to watch over the body.
The diagnosis was not confirmed to those close to him or the Ministry of Health was notified, therefore, in the case of a deceased by Covid-19, the mechanisms to prevent the spread of the virus were not activated The councilor for Izquierda Unida-Verdes in the Lorca City Council, Gloria Martín, today asked the mayor of the city, Diego José Mateos, to request the Ministry of Health to immediately open an investigation into the Covid-19 outbreak in the Virgen del Alcázar hospital, which, in the absence of updated data, already affects 41 patients, 15 workers and 5 caregivers. Martín has demanded that, in the course of said investigation, the death on September 22 of a user of said hospital be clarified in whose death report, according to his family, respiratory failure appears as the cause of death, despite that his loved ones were not allowed to see the corpse or watch his body, because the Lázaro Soto funeral home applied the internal protocol for which it was considered a death due to Covid-19. It was an unexpected death since the patient had been admitted to the Virgen del Alcázar hospital for more than a year due to a problem in his lower extremities that did not endanger his life.
On the morning of the 21st, he called a relative to tell him that he was not feeling well and that it was difficult for him to breathe.
Throughout the day, he continued to inform his loved ones that, given the worsening of his symptoms, the doctors had told him that they were going to transfer him to the Rafael Méndez regional hospital.
However, at 10 pm, the last time he spoke with his relatives, he told them that the transfer had not finally taken place, that they had done an X-ray and that "his chest hurt a lot" and he was "drowning".
At 6:45 a.m.
on the 22nd, the family received a call in which they announced his death. Shocked by news they were not expecting, their relatives appeared at the Virgen del Alcázar where, according to what they say, they asked about the cause of death, to which the doctor who attended them told them that at four in the morning he had the constants vitals well and that the cause of death had been respiratory failure.
The relatives asked to see the body "so they could hug him and say goodbye," to which the doctor refused.
They then asked if it was because the death was due to Covid-19 to which, apparently, he replied that "it was not known.
So, they asked that the body be tested.
The doctor, after consulting, told the family that after his death the diagnosis could not be made.
Her loved ones then asked for the deceased's clinical report,.which was not provided hinting that it took several hours to prepare.
Fourteen days after death they have not yet been sent. The IU-Verdes councilor reported that that day, September 22, at 10:06 p.m., she received a "desperate" call from the relatives of the deceased who asked for help because they had been told at the aforementioned funeral home that they could not hold the wake.
After confirming through a call to the Councilor for Health of the Lorca City Council that the restrictions imposed by the return of the urban area of ??Lorca, Phase 1 made more flexible, do not prevent the celebration of wakes, at 10:16 p.m., Martín contacted said establishment where They told him that an "internal protocol" had been applied to the deceased when he was considered dead by Covid-19.
The councilor asked how it was possible that the funeral home had more information than the relatives,To which his interlocutor commented that an X-ray performed on the patient was indicative of pneumonia compatible with the virus. Martín transferred this information to the family members and spoke again with the Councilor for Health, who, the next day, according to what he told him, spoke with a person in charge of the Virgen del Alcázar who denied that the deceased had coronavirus and the matter was settled. Gloria Martín has shown her concern that the lack of a clear diagnosis could have put the health of the people who were related to the deceased at risk, who shared a room with another patient, was cared for by the health center staff and even by a physiotherapist hired privately.
"If they had suspicions that he died from covid-19, why was the Ministry of Health not alerted and the contingency measures activated? And, if he did not die from the coronavirus, why were the protocols for accompaniment and dignified death and was the family prevented from watching over his corpse? ", asked Martín.
"We talk about public health and also about issues closely related to human rights,that they cannot be put in risk or trampled arbitrarily by a simple supposition, "said the councilor. The mayor of IU-Verdes considers that this event has sufficient relevance for it to be the subject of an investigation by the health authorities to clarify whether it could be one of the causes of the Covid-19 outbreak suffered by this private-arranged hospital. In this regard, Martín also warned that, unlike what happens in the Rafael Méndez hospital, in the Virgen del Alcázar, not all patients who are referred from the SMS for outpatient major surgery interventions undergo a PCR to rule out that they are affected by coronavirus.
"We flatly refuse to make the safety and health of users and workers depend on economic criteria that seek to save costs.
We demand the same treatment for patients, regardless of whether they operate in a public center or in a subsidized one , which is also supported with public funds ", concluded Martín.
Source: IU-verdes Lorca
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