Free TV for all hospital patients in the Comunidad Valenciana
Wednesday, October 17, 2018 @ 11:55 PM
TELEVISION in public hospitals throughout the eastern region of the Comunidad Valenciana will soon be free of charge for patients – and the government opposition wants to extend this to Wi-Fi coverage.
Until now, patients had to buy cards from hospital receptions to use in the public telephones and TVs on the wards, and keep replacing them when they ran out of credit.
The estimated cost is around €4 a day and, with the average hospital stay being six days, patients admitted spend around €24 on watching TV.
For those unable to read due to problems holding a book and turning pages, the TV is their only entertainment – especially as Wi-Fi is not normally available or, if it is, comes at a charge.
Television services in the region's hospitals, as in other parts of Spain, are provided by franchises, and the cost of the cards purchased to access these go straight to the private-sector firms in question, rather than to the health service.
But Valencia regional health minister Ana Barceló says her cabinet aims to 'humanise' hospitals and health centres, and part of this new patient focus will mean her department's budget funding TV and – possibly – internet for anyone admitted.
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