People were anxious when they called

alejandra llorente Projects and Innovation Sanitas Healthcare Funding

At the beginning, it was very difficult, because in the 24 hour telephone support service we usually took a maximum of a thousand calls a day, but now we were taking up to about 4,500. We all had to answer them, no matter what our role, because it was important not to let our health centre collapse.

In the middle of the pandemic we were able to help people by phone thanks to our digital health programmes. We have been working with these systems for ten years. we also have video calls too and soon we hope to offer our health programmes digitally, through an app.

In the health promotion service we give support using an online platform with a team of health professionals made up of doctors, nurses, nutritionists and psychologists. We all use phone, video and chat to talk to our customers. We also have a 24-hour service to manage potential emergencies, sending ambulances or staff to peoples’ homes - doctors, nurses and even oxygen therapists.

The huge increase in the number of calls was due to peoples’ fears. It was difficult for us to answer them quickly and sometimes they had to wait quite a while or we called them back thinking: My God! What am I going to say to this person? And then, at the other end of the phone was a person who was so grateful, because they just wanted to be reassured that they were doing the right thing.

MADRID — SPAIN

Now, in the month of August, we are seeing another surge in cases. There are a lot of surges in Spain and we are very worried about how it will be in September. Now that they are finding a lot of asymptomatic people, people are more uncertain about what is going to happen. That is one of the most common reasons customers call, because that is what we are going through as a country.

I live with my husband and my two children. We have had to adapt. It is hard, especially as the children are so young. But hey, if they appear in a meeting or someone sees them, it’s not that bad. Everyone understands that you are at home and things are different.

I think we have worked really well and now we need to keep going forward, always giving our best. �