"The National Transplant Organization and the autonomous communities are currently working on a specific "post-Covid" plan to recover the activity prior to the health crisis as soon as possible in the best conditions of safety for the health of patients and professionals. " announced today by the Minister of Health, Salvador Illa, in his weekly appearance at the Health and Consumer Commission.
"In the most critical moments of the health crisis, priority has been given to patients in a very serious clinical situation for whom the transplant cannot wait and also to those who are difficult to transplant due to their immunological or other characteristics, should they appear a suitable donor, "said Illa. Thus, he highlighted that of the total of 274 transplants performed from March 13 to May 19, 25 transplants were for children and 30 were in zero emergency and could not be delayed.
Salvador Illa explained that "although the number of transplants during the health crisis has decreased compared to normal activity, each one of the transplants performed has been done in conditions of extraordinary complexity." And he wanted to acknowledge the work of each of the professionals involved who have made it possible and to thank the enormous generosity of the citizens of our country, who despite the circumstances, has continued to show a very favorable attitude towards donation.
Progressive recovery from normal healthcare activity
The Minister of Health has highlighted, during his speech in Congress, the importance of the progressive recovery of the health system once the moments of greatest tension in the response to COVID-19 have been overcome. "Until the arrival of a vaccine or effective treatment, it is necessary that we adapt the National Health System to take care of the health of the population living with the coronavirus," he stressed.
In this line, he added that "all administrations and health institutions are working to gradually reintroduce the usual health activity safely." This requires organizing the circuits well, staggering the activity and establishing protocols that guarantee maximum safety for patients and healthcare professionals. Thus, for example, it is considered essential to reintroduce scheduled surgery in a staggered manner since its delay can condition the prognosis of some diseases.
For this reason, the Ministry has coordinated a technical working group made up of experts from various scientific and professional societies, which has developed technical recommendations to guide hospitals in the development of their protocols. These recommendations have been published this week in the technical document "Recommendations for safe surgery scheduling during the transition period of the COVID-19 pandemic".
This includes, among other things, the need to create NO-COVID-19 circuits, proposals to reduce face-to-face consultations and restrict the number of visitors, or the way to evaluate patients who do not have an active infection just before surgery.
