People in a situation of dependency wait an average of two years in Andalusia from when they apply for help until they receive the benefit or service. This has been denounced by the Association of Directors and Managers of Social Services, which estimates that Andalusian dependents wait for care at 621 days .This is 200 days more than the average for Spain (more than 6 months).
The Institute for the Elderly and Social Services (Imserso), a body dependent on the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, sent a report to the autonomous communities in October with waiting times but anonymously, although it did specify that the country average is 426 daysdespite the fact that the regulations establish that the maximum term that the communities have to resolve the files is 180 days.
The Association of Directors and Managers of Social Services, an expert in the sector, has published an analysis indicating to which community each figure in the Imserso report belongs. According to said analysis, Andalusia is the third Spanish community with the highest waiting time, after the Canary Islands , which tops the ranking with 785 days; and Extremadura, with a term of 675 days.
Only four autonomous communities or cities manage to resolve the files within the allowed period: Ceuta (70), Pais Vasco (137), Navarra (155) and Melilla (170).
“Despite the gradual increase in the number of people served in recent years, the pace is clearly insufficient to absorb the demand for evaluations and care,” commented the Association of Directors and Managers of Social Services. “According to Imserso data, from January 1 to November 30, 2019, the number of people pending some procedure increased in Spain by about 12% to reach 423,000 people, of which more than half are Andalusians (about 123,000) and Catalans (103,000).”
in AndalusiaAccording to data from November 2019 from the Ministry of Health, there are 74,244 people in a situation of dependency who are waiting to receive a benefit that has already been approved and 48,524 pending evaluation of their degree. In total, there are 122,768 people waiting to resolve some process. In other words, 25% of people entitled to a benefit are unattended.
For Jose Manuel Ramirez, president of the Association of Directors and Managers of Social Services, there are two fundamental reasons that explain these “unspeakable delays, after thirteen years of implementation of the Law.” On the one hand, “the successive cuts suffered in the financing of the Law, still in force”; and, on the other hand, “the crazy and turbulent bureaucratic frameworkcreated by the different administrations that, far from guaranteeing the exercise of citizenship rights, becomes a deadly trap for access to benefits and services”.
More than 220,000 people benefit from some benefit in Andalusia, and 122,000 They are waiting to resolve some process.
In Andalusia there are 410,355 applications registered (as of December 31, 2019), which are equivalent to 21.66% of the total number of applications registered in Spain. It is the highest figure in the country. Catalonia, with 334,206, according to the latest report issued by the Ministry of Health, 64% of applicants are women and 53.6% are over 80 years old.
In total, in the Andalusian community, there are 293,661 benefits approved and 220,375 people benefit from them, since a person can have more than one type of benefit. Among the latter, telecare stands out (89,967), followed by home help (86,600) and the economic benefit for family care (72,268).
The profile of the beneficiaries is similar to that of the applicants. The majority are still women (65%) and 64% are over 80 years old.
If the population of each autonomous community is taken into account, Castilla y Leon is the Spanish region with the highest rate of beneficiaries, followed by Castilla-La Mancha and the Basque Country. Andalusia occupies the sixth position.
