The excellent public health system in Mallorca appears to be near breaking point, or is at breaking point according to nurses and their unions. Early last year, there was talk of industrial action being taken by nurses and other medical staff across the country, but it appears that for the moment, they have carried on the fight against Covid against all odds, but the crisis caused by low pay, lack of sufficient staff and part-time contracts could be about to reach a head.
Without the dedication and care of the medical profession, in particular the small army of nurses, would we be emerging from the pandemic and would more lives have been lost? And what thanks is the medical profession getting, not a lot, the nurses claim nothing. In fact so little, many are either quitting their careers all together or moving to work abroad where the salaries are higher, working conditions better and contracts more long term and binding.
I know of three Mallorcan nurses who over the past six months have moved to work in France and the UK. The one who went to Paris was rewarded with a 2,000 euro bonus from the French state for having relocated to bolster the French health system and yesterday, nurses at a demonstration in Palma warned that many more could follow and head abroad which will mean an even greater shortage of medical staff. This is not the way to treat nurses - Covid or not.