La Fundación Espriu, on the frontline against Covid-19

The healthcare crisis caused  by Covid-19 and the State of Alarm have been a serious challenge for the Spanish healthcare system. In just a few weeks, we saw how the teams in the hospitals were strengthened and new Intensive Care Units were created for the patients most seriously affected by coronavirus. This good work carried out by the healthcare personnel has been a key factor towards preventing the system’s collapse, but other essential professionals have also played important roles, such as those answering the telephones, the cleaners or the engineers who restructured entire hospitals to take care of the ever-changing needs during an unprecedented pandemic. Working together as teams, cooperating, an idea which the Fundación Espriu has been advocating for decades. The Fundación Espriu, a reference body in Spanish healthcare cooperativism, which groups together the health cooperatives Assistència Sanitària and ASISA, has been on the frontline in the fight against Covid-19. From the very beginning of the pandemic, they developed plans of action, always putting people and their cooperative values first. 

The response 

The different hospitals were restructured to respond to the healthcare emergency and following the health authority’s guidelines; tasks were reassigned and new Intensive Care Units were created. Amongst the professionals, tele-working was encouraged whenever possible to guarantee the health of employees.

Assistència Sanitària, the insurance company for the doctors’ cooperative Autogestió Sanitària, created a free telephone advisory protocol for the entire population, where a team of professionals answered queries about coronavirus.

Additionally, the Hospital de Barcelona, Assistència Sanitària’s reference centre, reorganised all its activity to attend almost 600 patients affected by Covid-19 over a 50 day period, although it maintained urgent surgery and oncological treatment. Meanwhile, the ASISA Group’s centres attended over 11,00 patients for Covid-19, of which 9,300 were admitted to their hospitals.  

Also through ASISA, the Lavinia cooperative started up Asisa LIVE, a new tele-medicine service for long-distance consultations using mobile telephones, computers or tablets. The same cooperative created the portal AhoraMasQueNuncaTranquilidad.es, (NowMoreThanEverCalm.es), with content regarding mental health, nutrition, sleep or tele-working, endorsed by professionals from the ASISA Group.

Team work that has given very good results.

Figures

1 The ASISA Group has attended over 11,00 patients for Covid-19; 9,300 in their hospitals, whilst around 2,000 cases needed care in the home. Almost 2,000 people had to be admitted to hospital and over 95% have already recovered.

2 ASISA also managed the hospital admittance of over 3,400 insured patients, both in their own network of hospitals and in state-funded hospitals.

3 ASISA Live, a platform that allows access to live video consultations with different specialists from the HLA Group, is attending 2,500 consultations per week. Additionally, through the ‘Chat Médico’ app, over 19,000 people have been given advice.

4 Assistència Sanitària started up a free telephone service for people holding policies with the entity and those who don’t, to answer queries and give guidance to people with Covid-19 symptoms. This service has answered over 6,000 calls. 

5 Over a 50 day period, the Hospital de Barcelona attended around 600 patients suffering from Covid-19 from Assistència Sanitària.

6 The Intensive Care Unit of the Hospital de Barcelona was extended with three new equipped spaces in the building and it also received a new emergency room. Also, a new special consulting room was opened to attend all the infected healthcare personnel (with a 100% recovery rate).