Waiting times in the emergency room of Palamós Hospital are reported to be over eight hours.

GironaIn summer, the massive influx of tourists and visitors more than doubles the population of the Costa Brava. All services are disrupted by the region's seasonal dynamics, and one of the hardest hit is healthcare. At Palamós Hospital, the only one in the Baix Empordà, healthcare workers report a situation of "extreme saturation" that is overwhelming the emergency department. Staff complain that the health center, with around thirty emergency rooms, cannot cope with the demand from vacationers who, while on vacation, suffer some condition that requires medical attention.

Doctors and nursing professionals confirm that, for mild cases, such as colds or stomach pain, waiting times can accumulate to eight or ten hours. "The population of the Costa Brava triples, the activity also triples and, if during the year we come from a hospital with a tendency to saturation, in summer the situation is already collapsed," explains Albert Mas, attending physician and delegate of the Catalan Doctors' Union. He adds that professionals cannot give everything they would like to give and cannot offer the quality of service that people deserve, and that if they do, it is to the detriment of their physical and mental health.

Regarding the waiting times, the doctor at the Bajo Empordà center explains: "For less complicated pathologies, which allow us to live a more or less normal life, the screens have shown us an estimated waiting time of eight or ten hours, while for more complex ones, they can reach four hours," he explains. And these latter are what truly worry doctors, since they can endanger the patient's life. "If something happens, who will be responsible? And if, working in a stressful situation, we make a mistake, will that be the fault?" Mas asks.

The complaints are by no means exclusive to the doctors at the Palamos hospital, as all the workers involved, from cleaning staff to admissions clerks, radiologists, orderlies, assistants, and nurses, are on the warpath. In fact, last week, the nursing union, Satse, also issued a statement describing the workday as "hell."

At the beginning of August, the company committee had already issued a similar statement, arguing that the lack of staff during the tourist season "puts the quality of service at risk." "The wait is exasperating, and sometimes patients feel neglected. On top of that, they feel unwell and they take it out on us, especially on the administrative staff who see them in the emergency room," describes a nurse at the center, adding that they have sometimes experienced tense situations "with verbal threats and very unpleasant shouting."

The hospital denies saturation

However, the Integrated Health Services of Baix Empordà (SSIBE), which manages Palamós Hospital and part of the primary care services in the region, denies that such delays per visit have occurred. This public-private organization that manages the center also reports that, compared to 2024, it has added one doctor position on night shifts, one 24-hour nursing position, and another assistant position. Likewise, acknowledging that the emergency department is a limited space and has very high occupancy in the summer, it emphasizes that improvement works have been carried out, increasing from 31 care points to 38, and that, from August 1 to 18 of this year, 4,320 patients were seen, practically the same number as the previous year.

For the workers who met with management this week to address the issue, however, all these measures are insufficient, and they are calling for more staff, as well as a better-defined treatment path for patients to streamline processes and free up beds, not only in the emergency room, but throughout the entire infrastructure. They also demand that the Department of Health evaluate and strengthen the outpatient clinics in the Bajo Empordà region, such as those in Palafrugell and Torroella de Montgrí, which could provide services for many of the minor emergency conditions but are unknown to much of the summer population.

A hospital that becomes too small in winter

Despite the radical change in population during the summer months, in winter, the Palamós hospital is by no means a center with little activity. Rather, it is very busy year-round, and complaints of lack of space are recurrent. The reason is that it is a regional hospital that covers a large area and dozens of municipalities, some with a fairly aging population and chronic illnesses that cannot be treated in the nursing home and require recurring treatment, both in the emergency room and during regular visits or hospitalizations.

Furthermore, recently, according to the staff, the increased pressure during the tourist season is no longer concentrated only from July 15th to August 15th, but extends from June to September, and during the fall, on weekends, the influx of patients also remains above average.