From 1 April, Guardamar del Segura will be left without the free transportation service provided for patients and families to the Torrevieja University Hospital by the Red Cross.
This is not medical transport per se. It is a service that has been operating since 2010 that transports people from Guardamar to the hospital that is located 17 kilometres by road from the town centre.
Provided in a Red Cross minibus, it is used by hundreds of people, about 400 residents, every year.
This service, booked in advance by users, runs three daily round-trips, providing important support for patients and family members who do not have any other means to travel to the hospital, either for appointments or to visit patients.
The opposition councillor Marisol Gallud (PP) has said that the Red Cross has offered all possible alternatives to the Council in an effort to maintain the service. There was no information from the council with many users only finding out about the termination of the service when they attempted to make a booking.
Mayor José Luis Sáez (PSOE) explained that the Council pays almost 40,000 euros to the Red Cross annually for the provision of this service, however, the service to the Red Cross is provided without a public tender, a circumstance that, due to the amount that the municipality pays, violates the Contract Law as it exceeds the amount that may be paid for a minor contract.
The Audit Office has now warned of the irregularity in its latest reports on municipal economic management, so the only way it can be provided is by drawing up a contract, however, at the time of drawing up the specifications, the Generalitat has reported that this transport responsibility corresponds to the autonomous Administration and that it cannot be operated by the town Council, so the government team has no choice but to withdraw the service.
