According to the SMM, both the A&E and the ICU are "constantly under pressure to provide care that has reached levels that are difficult to sustain". The strain intensifies during periods of high demand, particularly during the summer and the Feria.

This increase in activity highlights "the very serious existing shortages of staff, beds and space, with no response" from the Andalusian health service (SAS).

During the fair this August, the hospital's emergency department recorded up to 650 on some days. It is common in summer for the Clínico, the Valle del Guadalhorce and the Benalmádena hospitals to record a combined total of over 1,000 emergency patients in a single day.

"The result is extreme overload, with patients spending long periods waiting for a solution to their care needs and staff forced to work under constant pressure," the SMM says.

The trade union points out that it is difficult to retain staff. "Resident doctors who complete their training at the centre do not find it an attractive place to work and, in many cases, prefer to continue their careers at other hospitals."

Consequently, those who are offered contracts "choose to turn them down because of the working and clinical conditions" in both departments.

Added to this, is "the lack of capacity to respond during peak periods". For this reason, the union is calling for an immediate and structural response from the SAS.

"Overcrowding cannot become the norm and the goodwill of healthcare workers cannot be used as a substitute for proper healthcare planning and management," the SMM states. This affects patients and the quality and safety of the care they receive.

According to the management at El Clínico, the hospital adapts to the "increased demand typical of the summer".

"Clinical care is dynamically adapted to the needs of the moment, using the resources available and through the coordination of workers from the various centres within the hospital complex," the hospital says.

Healthcare sources SUR consulted pointed out that the hospital serves a large proportion of Malaga's population "with minimal resources". The residents of the Guadalhorce Valle and Malaga's areas of expansion all seek medical assistance there and their numbers grow in summer.

"It will be difficult to carry on like this in the future, because Malaga is growing in this direction and the hospital serves that population. The pressure on healthcare services will only get worse unless an expansion project for the Clínico is carried out once and for all: something essential for those residents of Malaga who, we should remember, will not be treated at the future Virgen de la Esperanza hospital," health sources say.

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