As part of the IV Iberian Private Hospital Summit, which took place in Madrid on 5 and 6 June, the Portuguese Association of Private Hospitals (APHP), the Spanish Private Health Alliance (ASPE) and the European Union of Private Hospitals (UEHP)) signed the Declaration of Madrid, in which they expressed their concern regarding the shortage of health professionals, especially doctors and nurses, and called for appropriate measures to attract young people to the sector.
This is one of the 10 recommendations included in the joint declaration that emerged from this bilateral meeting. The document “warns financing entities of the need to take into account the evolution of health costs resulting from general increases (inflation) but also from the specificities of the sector (shortage of labour, innovation in medicines and medical devices, surgical innovation)”.
The two Iberian associations remind those responsible for health policies of “the potential that exists in the articulation between the public and private sectors, in terms of care and financing, and the danger of some measures that could lead to the weakening or dismantling of private care provision”.
Rejecting “any discriminatory initiatives between providers (of a regulatory or financial nature, State Aids), which de-structure the sector, create instability and penalise citizens and professionals”, both associations also ask the respective Ministries of Health for “proper implementation of the European Health Data Space, with the involvement of private partners throughout the process and mechanisms to finance the necessary investments”
Visits and Debates
On the first day of the IV Iberian Private Hospital Summit, a delegation from the two Iberian countries visited the Proton Therapy Centre, a Quirón Saúde facility that is absolutely unique in the treatment of cancer, which favours minimal or no radiation near the tumour, and a lower dose of radiation per treatment, with an improvement in the patient’s quality of life.
Carlos Rus Palacios, president of the Spanish Private Health Alliance (ASPE), Oscar Gaspar, president of APHP, and Paul Garassus, president of the European Union of Private Hospitals (UEHP), kicked off the IV Iberian Private Hospital Summit on the second day, united by the sustainability of health systems and solidarity. Challenges and constraints common to both countries were presented and a proactive partnership for the private hospital sector in European health systems was advocated.
In the round table on “Solutions to the shortage of professionals”, there was a consensus that this is not a problem of professionals, but of health. More training, medical training in private hospitals, approving the qualifications of professionals from other countries or trained in other countries, making the market more flexible, new ways of organising work, more technology and more innovation in patient care were some of the possible solutions mentioned to overcome the current constraints in recruiting health professionals.
Turkey was the guest country at the IV Iberian Summit of Private Hospitals. Two Turkish speakers presented the country’s healthcare system and outlined the challenges and opportunities for partnerships with Portuguese and Spanish providers.
In the roundtable on “The relationship between the healthcare sector and insurers“, during which the speakers discussed a more participatory health system, including from the patients, José Galamba de Oliveira, president of the Portuguese Insurers Association announced that: “By the end of this year, Portugal will have 4 million people covered by health insurance”.
The closing session of the IV Iberian Private Hospitals Summit was attended by the Portuguese ambassador to Spain, the Turkish ambassador to Spain and Antonio Garamendi, president of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organisations (CEOE).
