Last September, the National Institute of Health Management (INGESA) – dependent on the Ministry of Health – announced the appointment of Alberto Romero as the new manager of the Melilla Health Area. Newly landed in the position, the health manager and doctor specialist in Family and Community Medicine attends to ConSalud.es to announce its plans for a “positive revolution” in the healthcare of this autonomous city, as well as the important commitment that the imminent opening of the new Melilla University Hospital will mean for the local population ( HUME).
Melilla is a square that is ‘difficult to fight’ at a health level due to the geographical particularities it implies and which makes it an area that is difficult to cover. Does this pose an added challenge for you?
First of all, I would like to indicate that Melilla is neither easier nor more difficult than the rest of the health areas of the national territory: it is a territory rich in professionals eager to work to improve the care of its population, with a very rich history and a society that is open, hospitable and eager to be known.
For the moment, given the very short period of time that I have been in office, I have perceived that support, a great desire from all areas to improve the city’s healthcare and many interests in participating in it.
And this is my challenge: to provoke a positive revolution to make known at a national level what is juicy from all points of view (personal, social) and, fundamentally, professional about this city, so that those who are already working here feel recognized and convey their desire to share their knowledge, to grow in their work environment at a scientific, research and training level and be an attraction that feeds back to the professional circuit.
Have you had the opportunity to feel the reception of the different health organizations and unions, as well as political leaders? How have you been received?
For the moment, given the very short period of time that I have been in office, I have perceived that support, a lot of desire from all areas to improve the city’s healthcare and many interests in proactively participating in it. Honestly, so far, I have only felt support and positive reinforcements from all parties.
What have been the main demands that all these actors involved in Melilla’s healthcare have sent to you?
Mainly, the need for things are done differently: that is what has come to me as a demand in an important way. The imminent opening of the University Hospital is a milestone, but let us not forget that the most important thing is to carry out orderly, improved management that ensures that professionals feel part of the organization, committed, satisfied and aligned on a single objective: to improve the health and care of the population, and thus ensure that the citizens of Melilla boast of having excellent health care and professionals in this field, because this is the way in which we grow together and generate alliances of trust.
What are the main objectives that you set during your health management in the city? Where do you plan to start?
Open the city of Melilla from a professional point of view, so that it is attractive for new generations of health workers, so that they know what, how and where they carry out their work and so that they understand that Melilla is a unique opportunity of living and working in a society that is an example of multicultural coexistence and in which it is committed to knowledge, innovation, humanization and health.
The first thing I am doing is visiting the people who work in our facilities or different devices and feeling their uncertainties, concerns and expectations at the foot of the hallway and, at the same time, taking the pulse of the citizens.
The first thing I am doing is visiting the people who work in our facilities or different devices and feeling their uncertainties, concerns and expectations at the foot of the hallway and, at the same time, take the pulse of the citizens that is found in those hallways that I am going to. It is essential to do an analysis of the real situation, the perceived situation and the demanded one, and for that a lot of dialogue and very little office is required,
You are a Family and Community doctor, you will be well aware of the difficulties that the first level of care is going through – in Melilla and in the rest of Spain – due to the overload of care and the lack of professionals. Where do you think is the key to reversing these staff shortages reported by Melilla doctors?
Honestly, I believe that there is more of a basic demand to do things differently, to work in a coordinated way, to develop that part of the MFYC that is beginning to be definitive, which is Community Action, than the aforementioned work overload. Staff of people with many years of work behind them, with complex periods due to care overload, leads us to have to be imaginative to fill our centers with the future, through young professionals, with the motivation and enthusiasm that come with the first years once the specialty is finished and that at the same time allows our veterans to make a satisfied and calm retirement when they see that the New generations are the ones who are going to be in charge of their own care.
The key is to retain talent, teach the nation what is done and how things are done here, what facilities we have and the opportunity that the city is from all points of view.
The key is to retain talent, teach the nation what is done and how things are done here, what facilities we have and the opportunity that the city is from all points of view: that is the secret, and I say it with full awareness. time I’m getting to know them.
What will the opening of the new hospital in Melilla at the end of this year mean, both for patients and professionals?
Without forgetting the importance of primary care, of course, the new center means being able to develop 21st century healthcare, with futuristic installationswith a technological innovation of 2024, with spaces that lead to dialogue between professionals and citizens, open to humanization. It will provide an opportunity to work in a cutting-edge manner, reorganizing care processes and undoubtedly improving work circuits and the environments for the people (patients and workers) who will live there. It is going to be an important lung and heart of the city, which wants to beat strongly.
One of the keys to making Melilla attractive to the arrival of healthcare workers is associated with the promotion of incentive measures to attract them, included in the Decree on places that are difficult to fill. What strategies to attract and retain professionals are you considering in the coming months?
For the moment, and without going into more detail, we have proceeded to keep the residents who have completed the specialty with stable contracts. I consider measures such as the search for consensus for family conciliation, institutional support for training and research; collaboration through agreements with other health areas and hospitals in the country (where they can carry out professional acts that could not be carried out here) or have the collaboration of professionals from other areas to carry out special techniques in Melilla and so on. create alliances among professionals are some of the axes that I have in mind.
For the moment, MIR residents who have completed their specialty in Melilla have been kept with stable contracts.
Likewise, get peninsular residents to rotate through our health area and generate culture of dissemination and professionalism It is another of the strategies that would be of great importance for local health.
What message would you like to convey to the citizens and healthcare workers of Melilla?
I am discovering a city that beats to the rhythm of its citizens; It is young, has an energy and intensity that is reflected in its professionals, who are eager to take care of the health of their neighbors, but need recognition, encouragement and to work with quality. We have all the ingredients to make it happen: let’s take advantage, cook together and we are going to be a health benchmark and their care at the national and international level: let us be ambitious for this.