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The Ombudsman urges that the mother's request be resolved 'as soon as possible'. Marta Fernández Jara/EP
Ombudsman Criticises Health Department for Denying School Nurse to Disabled Child

Ombudsman Criticises Health Department for Denying School Nurse to Disabled Child

The child suffers from spinal muscular atrophy and is enrolled in a public school in Los Montesinos | The Department cites 'resource scarcity' to justify the denial

Pau Sellés

Alicante

Miércoles, 15 de enero 2025, 17:35

Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type I, dependency situation, and a 70% disability degree, tracheotomy, and gastric button. This is the medical report of a child enrolled at Virgen del Pilar Educational Centre in Los Montesinos, whom the Health Department has denied a school nurse for the 2024/25 academic year.

The situation has prompted the child's mother to file a complaint with the Ombudsman, who has processed the complaint and in its resolution recommends the Health Department to address the request 'as soon as possible'.

According to the facts presented by the Ombudsman, the Health Department allegedly denied the nurse allocation citing 'scarcity of available resources' and 'lack of capacity or competence to create a nursing position exclusively for the care of this student'.

The Health Department considers that dedicating a professional exclusively to the student's care 'would negatively impact' the assistance provided to the rest of the population.

The response comes from the Management of the Torrevieja Health Department, responsible for healthcare in Los Montesinos. 'With the resources available at the Los Montesinos auxiliary clinic, we could not allocate a nurse for full-time supervision at Virgen del Pilar school for this student.'

They also claim that dedicating the nurse to school care 'would negatively and directly impact the assistance and care provided to the rest of the population'. Another reason cited by the education department is that in the Basic Zone of San Miguel de Salinas, to which Los Montesinos belongs, all the education reference nurses (ERE) have already been appointed.

The child's interest 'must prevail'

Despite these justifications, the Ombudsman, led by Ángel Luna, reminds the Health Department that in public administration actions 'the best interest of the child must always prevail, meaning the fundamental right of every child to have their interests considered paramount over any other legitimate concurrent interest'.

The Ombudsman also acknowledges that such resolutions 'are constant' and should aim for students with special educational needs 'to achieve the objectives set for all students'.

The Ombudsman believes that 'non-discrimination and educational normalisation must involve providing public schools with specialised staff and necessary resources to ensure full enrolment, as well as removing any barriers or obstacles to educational normalisation', recommending the Department to resolve the authorisation file for nursing staff recruitment.

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