This happened yesterday to the sister-in-law of an old friend of mine. I have no reason to doubt her account - we have been friends for about fifteen years.
Her brother woke up in the morning with breathing problems and a low pulse. His family took him to emergencies at a hospital in Getafe, a working class suburb to the south of Madrid.
Almost immediately, the attending doctor came out and told the man's father that Javier was in a very bad state and that nothing could be done for him. His father was shocked and asked if they had tried giving him oxygen or any other treatment. The doctor listened and asked him to listen. He told him that as a result of the cuts in the health service, there were orders not to treat this sort of patient if they seem in a very bad way. Javier has been in a wheelchair for twenty years after a very bad motorcycle accident. The doctor responded that there were orders not to treat "this kind" of patient and that the time and money was necessary for the care of "healthier" patients.
Javier's father asked to see the head of the department. the head of department repeated what the doctor had told him; that given the cuts in the health department, there were orders not to use "expensive treatments" on patients who do not in any case enjoy the same "quality of life" as other patients.
The father began to enumerate the things that Javier does still enjoy - like going to the cinema, reading magazines and books, drinking coffee with his friends, holidays with the family..... eventually the doctor was moved by this litany to declare that on this occasion he was going to disregard the protocol and ignore the orders from above and, effectively, to perform those "expensive" tests.
Javier seems to be responding well and is no longer on the life support machine.
Her brother woke up in the morning with breathing problems and a low pulse. His family took him to emergencies at a hospital in Getafe, a working class suburb to the south of Madrid.
Almost immediately, the attending doctor came out and told the man's father that Javier was in a very bad state and that nothing could be done for him. His father was shocked and asked if they had tried giving him oxygen or any other treatment. The doctor listened and asked him to listen. He told him that as a result of the cuts in the health service, there were orders not to treat this sort of patient if they seem in a very bad way. Javier has been in a wheelchair for twenty years after a very bad motorcycle accident. The doctor responded that there were orders not to treat "this kind" of patient and that the time and money was necessary for the care of "healthier" patients.
Javier's father asked to see the head of the department. the head of department repeated what the doctor had told him; that given the cuts in the health department, there were orders not to use "expensive treatments" on patients who do not in any case enjoy the same "quality of life" as other patients.
The father began to enumerate the things that Javier does still enjoy - like going to the cinema, reading magazines and books, drinking coffee with his friends, holidays with the family..... eventually the doctor was moved by this litany to declare that on this occasion he was going to disregard the protocol and ignore the orders from above and, effectively, to perform those "expensive" tests.
Javier seems to be responding well and is no longer on the life support machine.
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