Ceilings with carcinogenic substances in nursery, water-free fire installations, a pavilion that have been without natural gas for seven years, lack of control in medications such as Clonazepam, delays of 180 days for one shift and two years for a gynecological consultation. These are just some of the shortcomings presented by the Braulio Moyano Neuropsychiatric Hospital and, unfortunately, are already a classic in the public health system.

This alarming situation, both building and attentive, was informed by the General Audit of the City of Buenos Aires (AGCBA, for its acronym in Spanish) after evaluating the 2011 management.

One of the most worrying issues is that many patients, once discharged, "come back because the necessary devices for social reinsertion or referral in time and form were not developed in order to guarantee the course of treatment." In many cases "there is no adequate family restraint and there is an economic precariousness". These factors together with the lack of intermediate institutions provoke a high level of recidivism.

Continuing at the attentional level, the AGCBA noted that "an outpatient has to wait 90 days to get a shift in outpatient clinics, a period that can be extended to 180 in winter and summer vacations for medical leave."

In the area of gynecology, "the controls have a delay of two years", but they cannot include ultrasounds or mammograms "because both teams do not walk." It is also not possible to perform transvaginal ultrasound or mammography for patients due to lack of equipment. It is important to note at this point that the hospital is a neuropsychiatric of women with more than a thousand beds.

In the area of diagnostic imaging it was detected that "a computer with enough memory and space to place a printer is missing". At first glance this observation does not seem so serious, unless it is considered to be the cause that "all documents are done manually, as well as the recording of work done, reports of images and indications for studies."

Computer problems also affect the Chief of Infectious Diseases, since "since there is no computer with an internet connection, she must carry out communication tasks with the Ministries of Health of the Nation and of the City from her home."

In the Pharmacy, the AGCBA observed that "there are no formal controls for the storage of products, so there is an unnecessary accumulation of medicines in some sectors and insufficient stock in others". In fact, "repeated weekly medication orders were detected without verifying the relevance of the content". Before that it was no accident finding 481 pills expired.

Auditors also found, on numerous occasions, the difference between medication orders and those actually needed. One of the most striking disparities is related to the consumption of Clonazepam: "Of the 130 tokens that had been requested that drug 35 actually did not have it prescribed."

In the case of fire, "there are not only anti-fire facilities that do not have water", but the evacuation would be complicated "since there is no plan or training of personnel in the practices and roles that they should fulfill in case of emergency."

Also…

To the attention deficit we must add the structure. The AGCBA called the infrastructure "obsolete" and its maintenance "disparate."

Among the problems observed "in all the pavilions" are the fans that do not work, leaks, lack of cleanliness in everything that exceeds one meter and a half, deterioration of the patients' furniture, floor tiles loose or detached And lack of protection on emergency stairs.

On the pavilion Riglos there is an observation that makes us agree to another neuropsychiatric: "the service has not had natural gas for seven years". In addition, the place "is abandoned and semi destroyed".

The former Charcot pavilion, which is located on the first floor, "has the bathrooms in bad condition, the showers did not work eight months ago and generated losses in the sector below."

It Rains, it Pours

Due to a staff reduction, "the security agents are insufficient." According to the Audit, "the reduction left unattended the outer offices of the first floor, the medical ward, the emergency exit, the pharmacy, the morgue, the dentistry sector and the maintenance area." In spite of having 22 pavilions there is only one agent to do the preventive walk through.