The Spanish Association of Private Hospitals (ASPE) will present the new national government that emerges from the elections with a decalogue of demands as a roadmap for the next term of office with regard to the private healthcare sector.
The employers’ association considers that it is urgent to address a series of issues of particular relevance to strengthen the National Health System (NHS) and private healthcare as its key ally. Among the measures and proposals put forward by the sector, four strategic axes are addressed: better planning of human resources in the face of the structural problem of a shortage of healthcare professionals; more and better public-private collaboration; guarantees and transparency in relations with health insurance; and improved patient access to the latest technology and therapeutic treatments.
More and better public-private collaboration
Another of ASPE’s main demands revolves around more and better public-private collaboration, given that private healthcare plays a vital role in the sustainability of the system. To this end, ASPE advocates [5] basing all decisions on health care and healthcare provision, as well as on health outcomes according to clear and comparable indicators, exclusively on objectives of effectiveness, efficiency and better use of resources.
By relying on private healthcare, it is also possible [6] to better plan the response to healthcare demand, taking into account all available healthcare resources in order to make better use of them, so that they can be useful in the event of possible contingencies such as the alleviation of waiting lists. “Private healthcare can also play a key role in extending the network of National Transplant Organisation centres or University Hospitals,” says Carlos Rus.
In this regard, it should be remembered that, in 2022, the private healthcare system in Spain accounted for 2.7% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employed 373,400 people. Private hospitals also account for 56% of Spanish hospitals and provide one in three of the country’s beds and operating theatres. In terms of health care, private healthcare accounts for 42% of surgical interventions, 31% of hospital stays and 31% of emergencies.
Extract from an article published on the ASPE website on 12 July 2023
