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Hundreds of hospital workers sent home due to cost cutting

Services to be reduced meaning waiting lists will lenghten by the end of the year

Over a third of the 3,835 workers at the Sant Pau Hospital in Barcelona are affected by a temporary labor force adjustment plan (ERE) that entails staying home for 15 days, and up to 15 months in 63 cases.

The measure aims to save 10 million euros over the next 15 months, said the medical center in a release, adding that the adjustment plan was structured in such a way as to minimize the impact for patients.

But the move includes suspending outpatient visits on Fridays, except for oncology and hematology, a UGT labor union delegate at the hospital said. Additionally, there will be three fewer surgeries each day, "which by the end of the year means a lot of surgeries" will have been added to waiting lists, he added. Thirty-six hospital beds will be eliminated, on top of another 40 that were recently taken away.

More information
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Over 60 employees will stay home for 15 months after the hospital decided to shut down an entire floor of the building. Resident physicians, emergency personnel and other special cases are not affected.

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