A historical problem
As users of Catalan healthcare, we often find it difficult to communicate with some doctors in our language, and this is not new. The constant denunciation of the refusal of some professionals to speak to us in Catalan and the forcefulness of the most recent reports have finally made the Government of the Generalitat take measures. And the data is alarming: only 48% of doctors use Catalan during visits. And not only that. According to the Council of Medical Colleges, three out of ten doctors working in Catalonia do not know Catalan and 50% of those who come from other territories of the State have no interest in learning it. In order to try to solve this problem, the Department of Health will require the C1 level of Catalan from all staff who want a place, both in public centers and in chartered centres. In addition, online courses will be offered during working hours so that professionals coming from outside can acquire language skills in the native language of that country. In other words, what the current law already says will be applied rigorously.
A matter of quality
The first cause that has brought us to such a regrettable situation, then, is that there has been no political determination to guarantee linguistic immersion in such a delicate area as that of people’s health. And there has also been no efficiency in providing the resources so that professionals who come from outside have facilities to learn Catalan and then use it with patients. This is an objective in which all efforts must coincide, starting with that of doctors and professional associations, of course, which must be fully committed to it. Because good care is not just about having the best specialists, the best hospitals and the best equipment. It is not enough to recover the waiting lists and the investment cuts that in the recent past were a hard blow to the sector. Good care also implies respecting the linguistic rights of people, who must be able to explain their problems in their own language.
