The Comptroller warned about an imminent collapse in the emergency service of the Hipólito Unanue de Tacna Hospital, given the impossibility of effectively attending patients in critical condition, due to the prolonged and undue occupation of observation beds.
According to the control visit report No. 019-2025-OCI, the beds destined for observation-which should be available for patients who require immediate care-are being used by people who have already been stabilized, but who have not been derived in a timely manner to other areas to continue their treatment or recovery.
Do not refer to patients
The inspection, carried out on July 1, 2025, revealed that the 16 observation beds (eight for ladies and eight for men) and the six pre -internment stretchers are fully occupied, even by patients who have been there for several days. In the ladies area there were patients hospitalized for up to 23 days; While, in the male area, times of permanence of up to nine days were recorded.
This situation contravenes the current norms that establish a maximum of 12 hours of permanence under observation before being transferred to other hospital areas. Prolonged use of these spaces reduces the response capacity to real emergencies.
Personal is insufficient
The report also warns about serious risks related to medical staff and the quality of care. It has been detected that the medical staff of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) was scheduled for shifts of up to 30 continuous hours exceeding the 12 hours established by law.
In addition, it was detected that in the observation rooms a single nurse serves eight patients, when the recommended maximum is six per professional considering the degree of dependence of each case.
Unbalance of medicines
During the tour of the emergency area, the shortage of medications was also verified in the trauma de trauma shock car. These inputs are vital for the care of patients in critical condition and their absence seriously compromises the hospital’s ability.
Three inoperative oxygen plants
Another worrying finding is the state of the four existing oxygen plants, of which three are inoperative. Two of them stopped working in 2024 and the immatec plant ceased its operation in June of this year due to failures in its purity control system, which is essential to guarantee a minimum oxygen concentration of 93%. Currently, only the Novair plant is operational, which supplies both the emergency area and other welfare units.
