The group presented these demands to the health minister and the minister’s team during a meeting held on October 15. The association is calling to “maintain, consolidate and expand the clinic,” with sufficient staff, coordination between services and continuity of care adapted to a multisystem disease.
The Health Department said during the meeting that a new contract had been created to bring in an internal medicine specialist, although no professional has yet been found to fill the position. The clinic depends on the Internal Medicine Department at Royo Villanova Hospital, which, according to the association, is currently facing a shortage of four specialists.
LACK OF AN INTERNAL MEDICINE SPECIALIST
Long Covid Aragón acknowledges the existing difficulties in hiring healthcare professionals, but is calling for temporary measures to maintain assessments, referrals and follow-up care until the vacancy is filled. “The lack of specialists cannot leave affected people without an organized response,” the group stresses, even proposing the use of rotating shifts involving other internal medicine specialists.
Another commitment announced by the Health Department is a review of the protocol for persistent Covid in Aragón, a process in which the association will participate. Regular follow-up meetings will also resume, and the issues reported by the organization will be examined—an initiative that, in its view, “opens an opportunity to correct the problems raised.”
The association believes it is necessary to establish clear criteria for access, referrals, follow-up and discharges. The Health Department has confirmed that being discharged from the specialized clinic does not prevent patients from returning later, but Long Covid Aragón wants to know “who will take responsibility for follow-up after discharge, what circumstances will allow a return and what procedure will facilitate a new assessment.”
TRAINING AND REHABILITATION FOR PATIENTS
Long Covid Aragón also warns that some patients discharged to primary care have not recovered from the disease, but have merely been discharged from the specialized clinic. “These are discharges from the clinic, not discharges because the disease has been resolved,” the organization emphasizes, insisting that they should not be presented or interpreted as such.
The association has again requested specific training on persistent Covid for healthcare professionals, particularly in primary care, as well as access to psychological support and neurocognitive assessment and rehabilitation when indicated. It also maintains that psychological support should accompany patients “without replacing care for their physical and cognitive symptoms.”
Long Covid Aragón remains willing to work with the Health Department on the protocol review and in upcoming meetings. The group now sums up its main demand in one idea: “Keeping the resource open is essential; ensuring that it can fulfill its function is too,” with continuous, coordinated and accessible care for those affected.
