The Federation of Citizen Services of the Canary Islands Workers' Commissions (FSC-CCOO), through the head of the ambulance sector, Enrique Espi, warned this Thursday about the serious crisis facing the health transport sector after the renewal of public contracts by the Department of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands. This "includes cases such as that of the ISCAN company in Gran Canaria, which has gone so far as to repeatedly violate fundamental rights of freedom of association", a fact that the union has taken to court," says Espi.
The CED of San Fernando is a resource of the San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council that is currently integrated into the network of dependency services managed by the AS Institute of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria. This day centre is one of the pioneering resources on the island of Gran Canaria since 2000 and ISCAN develops the comprehensive management of the service in coordination with the Department of the Elderly of the San Bartolomé City Council.
According to CC.OO, the administration is in breach of the Public Sector Contracts Act by failing to control irregularities, non-compliance and illegalities committed by companies awarded ambulance services. FSC-CCOO denounces that this permissiveness gives companies a feeling of impunity. "Companies operate as if they were protected by the administration, without negative consequences for them, but with a devastating impact on workers and users. This includes cases such as that of the ISCAN company in Gran Canaria, which has gone so far as to repeatedly violate fundamental rights of freedom of association," a fact that the union has taken to court," said Espi.
The union also questions the outsourcing of an essential service that is managed with public money. “Direct management is the only viable solution to guarantee transparency, efficiency and respect for labour and union rights. However, the agreement to supervise companies and the study for the internalisation of the service remains paralysed by interests that we are unaware of. We wonder why the Administration does not act and prioritise this system, which is clearly detrimental to workers and users,” concluded Espi. FSC-CCOO demands that the Ministry of Health provide an immediate response to guarantee the quality of the service, compliance with what was signed in public contracts with the contracting companies and the protection of labour rights, as well as real progress towards direct public management of medical transport in the Canary Islands.
