Crisis in Andalusian health ministry as regional deputy minister and health service boss quit

Two of the most senior officials in the Andalucía regional ministry for Health headed by Catalina García have resigned.

They are the deputy minister, Miguel Ángel Guzmán, from Malaga, and the head of the Andalusian health service (SAS), Diego Vargas, from Granada.

Both resignations come just a few weeks after bad data on waiting lists in Andalucía which caused criticism from opposition parties and trade unions and opened the first major crisis in the current rule of the Andalusian president, Juanma Moreno. In the figures, there were 1,045,106 patients waiting - of whom 841,731 were waiting for a first consultants appointment and 203,475 were waiting for surgery.

Both men leaving their posts have cited personal reasons for quitting. For now, the Andalusian government has closed ranks in support of the regional minister for Health, Catalina García, and her management of health care in Andalucía. While admitting that it was clear a fresh approach was useful to address the problems, a spokesperson denied the two had been asked to resign.

Miguel Ángel Guzmán, from Malaga, had held the post of deputy minister since July 2022 and prior to that ran the health service (SAS) itself.

The Andalusian regional government approved replacements for the two resignations this week. The new deputy minister of Health will be María Luisa del Moral, currently a member of parliament for Jaén, while Valle García, managing director of the Reina Sofía hospital in Cordoba, will head the SAS, according to sources consulted.

As part of its drive to get waiting lists down, the SAS is looking to fill 3,838 positions; 2,865 from open recruitment and 973 from internal promotion.