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ARCHIVED - Appointment backlog causes return to work delays for recovered Covid patients in Alicante
There are calls for doctors in Alicante province to be able to issue sick leave and discharge certificates at the same time
Mounting pressure on Primary Care health centres in Alicante province and the rest of the Valencia region due to a spike in Covid cases has created a bottleneck scenario at clinics and a serious backlog in appointments.
And whilst this is causing a major headache in general, there are concerning implications in terms of managing sick leave for people who have contracted the virus and their medical discharge so that they can return to work following a period of quarantine.
The situation means that staff are experiencing delays in getting back to work, which has serious repercussions for businesses, according to GPs and labour mutual insurance companies in the province.
At present, doctors authorise sick leave and discharge certificates separately, but the outbreak of the Omicron variant, much more infectious than the previous ones, has seen infections soar, and health centres are completely overwhelmed.
This means many workers cannot get doctors' appointments and are being forced to extend their sick leave.
And according to one mutual insurance company, "the Omicron variant has caused a veritable tsunami of sick leave during the month of December, which has no sign of abating in the first weeks of January".
Organisations such as the Association of Mutual Insurance Companies for Accidents at Work, Amat, and the Medical Union are now calling on the government to bring about a temporary change in the management of sick leave, so that doctors can issue sick leave and discharge certificates for Covid patients at the same time.
Currently, the law only allows this joint procedure for illnesses/conditions lasting less than five days.
"This would avoid the patient having to return to the doctor again to collect the discharge, something very complicated in the current situation of collapse of primary care," added the organisations.
Image: GVA Sanitat
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