They warn of the barriers to telemedicine for vulnerable people

The Bioethics Committee of Aragon warns of the "special vulnerability of some people" to the implementation of telemedicine, a situation that "can generate inattention and even abandonment if one does not act diligently and proactively." It refers, specifically, to those patients who "due to their age or personal circumstances" may have difficulties with the language, communication problems or lack of skills when making an appointment online or using the telephone fluently, since They often lack adequate social and family support.

It also warns that the economic difficulties caused by the pandemic "have increased the number of people with restrictions on their telephone line", and that those with sensory or intellectual disabilities must be taken into account, since they need specific resources " to achieve cognitive accessibility". "This means that there is a population group that is currently subject to a peculiar added dependency when accessing the system through telemedicine," the Committee points out.

Its members see it as "predictable" that, after the experience of this last year, telemedicine will continue to be used both in Primary Care and in specialized medicine when managing actions that do not require physical presence due to its "undoubted efficiency" both for professionals as well as for the users themselves. For this reason, they have addressed the Minister of Health, Sira Repollés, to make her aware of this problem and urge her to adopt "prevention and detection measures" for people who are in a situation of special weakness.

For their part, the medical unions Fasamet and CESM yesterday demanded "a true action plan to not drown the health system" on the occasion of Primary Care Day, which is celebrated today. They also believe that it is not the most opportune time to recover presence.