Many years ago I was walking past a very elegant building not far from where I live now and the sign outside caught my interest. I wondered what the Defensor del Pueblo Andaluz actually did. Like, who did they defend, and from what? As luck would have it there was a man standing in the doorway and so I asked him. And he said, well, when people are having difficulties and don’t know what they can do we find ways of helping them find the help they need. I remember thinking at the time, wow, what a wonderful service.

They came back to mind earlier this week when I got in touch with my friend (and ex-GP) Agustín to ask him if there was such a thing as an official Patient Advocate that might be able to help me with this whole medical mess I’ve been going through with my knee(s). He suggested that I register a formal complaint with Servicio Andaluz de Salud (SAS) but the thought of going through all that without even knowing where to start… well, it made me think of the DPA. 

I got onto their website and there was an easy way to send in a request so I did that. That very evening I got a call from someone from the DPA who also suggested the formal complaint route, saying I could go to any health centre or hospital and submit the form. The next day I received an email with a PDF of my official file number etc but meanwhile some questions had arisen. I’m very familiar with Spanish red tape so what I didn’t want is to show up at the hospital and have them give me the run around.

So today I took a copy of my DPA file over to that elegant building and said to the guy at the information counter that I still had a few questions. No problem. Within a few minutes I was talking to an advisor who listened to my whole story and then… actually helped me! He said I didn’t have to go to a hospital or health centre, that it was easy to do everything online, especially if I had a certificado digital (which I do) and he proceeded to take me through the steps, showing me the SAS website on his computer screen, what to click on, etc. Then he told me that after sending in the official complaint SAS had one month to respond and if they didn’t respond by then, or if I did not agree with their response, then I had a case for the DPA and they would officially step in.

OMG… I almost started crying. I mean, it’s scary to hope at this point, but suddenly I could actually DO something, there were clear steps to take and it made me feel less helpless and alone. So of course I sent in that official SAS complaint as soon as I got home today and… now we wait. Meanwhile I got an SMS from DPA reminding me of how to send in the official complaint and also what to do after I receive a response with corresponding emails and phone numbers. Fucking socialist governments, eh?