Adam Husicka
MALAGA’S Regional Hospital is facing a severe crisis in its Intensive Care Unit (ICU) due to a critical shortage of nursing staff, according to local healthcare unions.
Nursing groups PEPA (Plataforma Enfermera por Andalucia) and Satse say the shortage is putting patients’ lives at risk and causing dangerous levels of burnout among staff.
In just four months, over 2,700 nursing hours went uncovered in the adult ICU.
That figure is expected to rise to more than 4,000 hours by the end of September if no action is taken, according to PEPA.
Unions say the hospital has effectively saved the cost of around 30 full-time nursing contracts, at the expense of patient safety.
They warn that nurses are being forced to work double shifts or leave shifts uncovered, with care quality severely impacted.
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PEPA has accused the hospital and the Andalusian health service of deliberately underfunding public healthcare, pushing services to the brink while private companies benefit.
The platform stated: “It’s unacceptable that in the ICU of a top-tier hospital, treating highly complex patients, they’re cutting essential human resources.”
Experts say nurse-to-patient ratios in the ICU are now as high as 1:4, far above the national and international standard of 1:1.
A recent overnight shift saw three nurses missing from duty, leading the ICU to become completely blocked from Monday to Tuesday.
At one point, four critical patients arrived needing ICU beds, forcing staff to discharge four others early just to make space, as capacity had fallen from 44 beds to just 36, due to understaffing.
To make matters worse, a critically ill patient had to be transferred for a heart transplant the next morning, but the on-call supervisor had not been informed in advance, prompting staff to file a formal complaint that same night, warning of dangerous conditions.
Satse, the main nursing union, says the hospital cannot function based on staff picking up endless extra shifts, and they are demanding a more realistic staffing plan based on patient needs and official health guidelines.
Despite this, the hospital says the incident was a one-off and handled with appropriate safety measures.
It added that the heart transplant transfer was completed without issues and followed all safety protocols.
Hospital officials are now reviewing internal communication procedures to improve future responses.
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