Imanol Pradales proposed in the campaign “a great political and social agreement to keep Osakidetza out of partisan disputes and achieve consensus that will allow us to continue guaranteeing the best care and the sustainability of the system”. For the moment, everything remains the same as always.
The tool that “feeds and informs decision-making regarding health policies”, the Basque Health Survey (ESCAV), carried out to “assess the needs for health care and health resources”, was commissioned from the Madrid-based firm Demométrico Market Research.
In other words, the “preparation, collection, coding, recording and validation of the statistical operation of the survey” has been awarded to a company linked to the PP’s secret funds, which in turn is part of a conglomerate linked to right-wing figures such as Mariano Rajoy, Esperanza Aguirre, Eduardo Zaplana and Ángel Acebes.
Polls with opposite results
The 2023 Basque Health Survey, awarded to Demométrico for 470,569 euros, is the eighth survey carried out to “monitor” the “use of Osakidetza services”, as well as “the physical and mental health status of the population. It contains a questionnaire aimed at people residing in more than 5,800 family homes, including a specific section to collect responses from minors. The last survey dates back to 2018 and was commissioned from a Bilbao firm for 280,720 euros.
In the presentation of its results in May 2024, weeks before Pradales’ appointment as Lehendakari, the survey was defined as “a fundamental part of the Basque Country’s health information system, which feeds and informs decision-making within the scope of the Basque Country’s Health System, and especially with regard to the Health Plan”.
The survey outsourced to a company linked to the PP’s fund indicates that 80% of citizens are satisfied with Osakidetza, although other surveys present it as the main concern for citizens
In this regard, the survey results indicated that 80% of respondents are satisfied with health services. However, the results of the Deustobarómetro survey of June 2024, carried out by the University of Deusto, are contrary to those presented by the survey contracted by Osakidetza, Demométrica, as they place Osakidetza as the main concern for citizens, with a score of 4.4 out of 10.
In June 2023, the Deustobarometer had already warned that 38% of respondents trusted the health institution less than before and 19% were about to lose confidence. 81% believed that few or very few economic resources were allocated and 88% understood that there was a lack of health personnel, so 79% considered that Osakidetza employees have reasons to mobilize and protest about their working conditions.
Links with the Popular Party
In 2018, Alfonso del Corral, president of Demométrico, Esperanza Aguirre’s lead pollster in all the campaigns since her arrival in the Community of Madrid, admitted before the judge that he received money for his work from the PP’s secret funds.
According to a document from Comisiones Obreras, the company hired by Osakidetza to carry out the 2023 health survey belongs to a conglomerate linked to senior officials of the Spanish right
According to a document from the Comisiones Obreras union dated July 7, 2023, this firm, hired by Osakidetza to carry out the health survey, belongs to a conglomerate made up of Eurostar Mediagroup and Sigma Dos. The union added that the general director of the conglomerate at that time was Rosa María Díaz, former advisor to Mariano Rajoy and in turn married to the former Secretary of State for Trade in the PP Government, Jaime García Legaz, José María Aznar’s protégé at the FAES Foundation. In addition, according to the same source, the Eurostar Mediagroup company received advice from former ministers Eduardo Zaplana and Ángel Acebes.
Although it may be surprising that a firm with such a profile was hired by Osakidetza, the relationship between the Basque Health Service and the Madrid company linked to the PP’s secret funds is no exception. Two firms involved in the PP’s Púnica network, Indra and Cofely, have regularly worked for the Basque health service.
According to information sent by Gotzone Sagardui to the Basque Parliament last year, the “crown jewel” of the Basque oasis outsourced around 2.8 million euros to Kosorkuntza, a subsidiary of Cofely. For its part, Indra, according to the journalist Ter García, came to integrate several UTEs that won three contracts from Osakidetza worth 24.4 million euros.
It should be noted that Manuel Fraga (PP Galicia) and José Antonio Ardanza (lehendakari for the PNV in Euskadi) had agreed to entrust their electoral campaigns to the same agency, Sanchís Comunicación. In addition, Mediasal, an agency linked to the business career of Isabel Díaz Ayuso’s advisor, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, was chosen by the PNV in Nafarroa to design its electoral campaign.
Health
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Active Ageing Index Contract
Demométrico has also been contracted by the Basque Government to work in another of the key sectors of the recent agreement between PNV and PSE, care, at a cost of 116,242 euros. Specifically, last June was the deadline granted by the Ministry of Equality, Justice and Social Policies for Demométrico to present “the information necessary for the construction of the Active Ageing Index (AAI)-Índice de Envejecimiento Activo” on its participation in the care of people.
Demométrico, linked to the PP’s fund, has also been hired by the Basque Government to work in another of the key sectors of the recent agreement between PNV and PSE, care, with an award amounting to 116,242 euros.
This Active Ageing Index is the result of a research project developed jointly by the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). It should provide sufficient information to those responsible for designing and formulating public policies “on the use and exploitation of the potential that older people have to contribute to the economy and society”.
Two years ago, the ELA union pointed out that “Osakidetza is the vanguard, Ayuso is following the rhythm of the Basque Country”. At that time, the Anti-Privatisation of Health Coordinator of Madrid criticised the health bill of the president of the Community, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, to “transfer public money to private companies, eliminating the mechanisms that Public Law establishes to ensure the transparent and controlled use of public funds by private capital”, warning that it had Osakidetza as a reference.