Request for Standardisation

LAS PALMAS DE GRAN CANARIA, 30 Aug. (EUROPA PRESS) – The Federation of Health of Intersindical Canaria has urged the Canary Islands Health Service (SCS) to establish uniform criteria for free access to television programming for patients across various hospital centres in the islands.

Access as a Basic Necessity

The trade union has highlighted in a statement that access to television, as a fundamental element of entertainment and information for hospitalised patients, is being “limited, inequitable, and can be interpreted, indirectly, as a form of copayment for healthcare”.

Disparity in Access

It further noted that while facilities such as the University Hospital of the Canary Islands and the Hospital of Icod in Tenerife, as well as the José Molina de Orosa Hospital and the Insular Hospital in Lanzarote, the General Hospital of Fuerteventura Virgen de la Peña, and the General Hospital of La Palma provide free access to television; at the La Candelaria Hospital in Tenerife, or the University Hospitals Insular-Materno Infantil and Dr. Negrín in Gran Canaria, with the exception of the paediatric wards, patients are required to pay approximately €3.80 daily to watch television.

Questionable Charges for Public Services

“What some might consider trivial,” continued IC, “is, when it comes to public services, an unjustified revenue system that satisfies the profit motives of third parties, taking advantage of the forced stay of individuals due to illness and their vulnerable situation.”

Economic Barriers for Patients

Additionally, Intersindical Canaria emphasised that many patients, due to their social conditions and economic precarity, cannot afford to use such services.

Equipment Maintenance Issues

Moreover, it has been reported that at the General Hospital of La Palma, due to the lack of a replacement or maintenance service for these devices, a significant number of them are out of order. Patients wishing to access television must bring their own from home.

Call for Policy Change

In conclusion, IC stressed the necessity of establishing free and unrestricted access for patients to television programming across all hospitals in the Canary Islands, serving both entertainment and informational purposes.