The Canary Islands president, Fernando Clavijo, claims that visiting the GP without an appointment guarantees same-day attention and challenges the spokesperson for Nueva Canarias to verify it together.
The president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo (CC), has put the opposition to the test with a bold statement regarding public healthcare. In the Parliament session, the leader of the Canary executive asserted that any citizen who visits their health centre without a prior appointment will be attended to that same day. "If you go tomorrow to your GP without making an appointment, they will attend to you the same day, because it has happened to me and my family," Clavijo stated, addressing the spokesperson for Nueva Canarias, Luis Campos.
The president did not stop there. Clearly irritated by the opposition's criticisms, he issued a direct invitation: "You just have to go today to the health centre if you have any problem, and I assure you they will attend to you. And if not, we will go together. I will go with you." A challenge that, for now, has not received a public response from Campos.
The government's version: healthcare has improved
Clavijo, who describes himself as a "user of public healthcare," explained that health centres give appointments for another day due to organisational necessity and to confirm the appointments that patients later do not keep. "It is evident that healthcare is much better than how the previous Canary Islands government left it in 2023," he emphasised, referring to the socialist executive of Ángel Víctor Torres.
According to the president, waiting lists, surgical interventions, and consultations have improved "substantially" compared to the inherited situation. However, he did not provide specific figures during his speech.
The opposition's reply: deterioration and protests
Luis Campos did not hold back. The spokesperson for Nueva Canarias denounced "the progressive deterioration of the public healthcare system" and listed several ongoing issues: labour protests, overcrowding in emergency services, and delays in primary care. "It is cynical and shameful," Campos stated, referring to the Health Department's proposal to resolve the replacements for sick leave and holidays of striking doctors.
The spokesperson also pointed out the strike of the sanitary transport technicians and the critical situation of the Canary Institute of Hemodonation and Hemotherapy, where the lack of blood donations has forced the suspension of surgical tests. "There is a structural collapse in the emergency services of the large hospitals, with patients on stretchers piled up for days," Campos denounced.
What is at stake for citizens
For users of the Canary public healthcare system, the debate reflects two opposing realities. On one hand, the government's promise that primary care responds if one visits without an appointment; on the other, the complaints from professionals and the opposition about the system's overload. Those needing medical assistance in the Canary Islands can choose to go directly to their health centre, although the general recommendation remains to make an appointment in advance to avoid waits. The president assures that attention will be immediate, but trade unions warn that resources are limited.
The political standoff will continue, while citizens await concrete solutions. Clavijo has promised that healthcare will continue to improve, but the opposition demands urgent measures in light of waiting lists that, according to their data, exceed ten days for an appointment with a GP.
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