Valdepeñas has been one of the first localities to receive one of the 204 spirometers being provided to Primary Care in the region to address respiratory pathologies more effectively and efficiently.
This new instrument has been made available at Health Center II where the SESCAM manager, Alberto Jara, along with the deputy mayor, Vanessa Irla, emphasized the regional government’s commitment to this improvement.
«Following the strategy we have been developing in recent years to increase the resolution capacity and improve care for all citizens attending Primary Care, we have distributed 204 spirometers to all health centers, to which we have allocated an investment of over half a million euros,» Jara said.
As the SESCAM manager has indicated, with the provision of these new equipment, «we want to give a boost to conducting these tests in Primary Care centers for the benefits it can bring not only to the patient but to the entire healthcare system, as it represents savings in healthcare costs due to hospital admissions, medication, or sick leave.»
And it is, as explained, spirometry is a fundamental diagnostic test in evaluating lung function, especially in the diagnosis and management of chronic respiratory diseases. Its use in Primary Care allows for the early detection of diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other respiratory pathologies.
Additionally, with the use of these equipment, smokers or those exposed to environmental factors can be regularly evaluated through spirometry, helping to detect early lung impairments and promoting preventive measures.
On the other hand, the SESCAM manager explained that training will be offered to all professionals in health centers on the use of these new equipment. The training program began in Toledo on April 9 with great acceptance and is now being carried out in the Valdepeñas Management.
In this regard, he also recalled that Primary Care professionals had never had access to requesting so many complementary tests to reach a diagnosis, such as radiology, ultrasound, cranial CT, gastroscopy, colonoscopy, or magnetic resonance imaging, the latter test of which nearly 21,000 were requested last year, 12 percent more than the previous year.