Spanish Social and Health Care System

In my last entry, I shared with you some information about Finnish Social and Health Care System. Maybe this is not as useful as the information about Finnish system, but now I want to share with you some information about the way of working of these systems in Spain. Maybe someone knows people living in Spain and need it!

Social welfare and health care system

Spain understands “health” by the same ecological and holistic perspective given by WHO, as Finland, so its main goal is to change and improve environmental conditions for people in risk of get diseases or have an unhealthy routine, to improve their life.

The Ministry of Health, Consumption and Social Welfare is the responsible of Spain for proposing and executing the Government policy on health, planning and health care, consumption, cohesion and social inclusion, family, child protection and care for dependent or disabled people. It is the responsible also for exercising the powers of the General State Administration to ensure citizens the right to health protection.

Organization

Health care system in Spain is divided in a public and in a private way. However, Social Services are always free of charge.

Public health care is given to citizens by a system called “Social Security”. It provides all types of health (except dental care) for Spanish citizens, that pay an amount of fee every month to maintain it. All citizens have the right to be attend by Social Security. There are also private centres for different cares and treatments. People that want to use them must pay a specific amount of fee. There are also private insurances that pay the citizen in different occasions.

People that lives in Spain but they don’t have money to pay health care, as refugees or people without work, can also be attended by Social Security. Government allocate part of money for these people.   

 

Funding

Health care and social services in Spain are non-contributory benefit whose funding is based in taxes. The ranking of public system funding by sectors is:

·         Central Administration: 3,0%

·         Social Security System: 2,53%

·         Financial Mutuals: 3,40%

·         Autonomous Communities: 89,81%

·         Cities with Statue of Autonomy: 0,01%

·         Local corporations: 1,25%

Rights and status

According to OCU (Organization of Consumers and Users), the patient of a social or health care system has the right to be informed about everything related with his own health, to access the medical history, to have his wishes respected, to decide about his health, to privacy and privacy, to claim, to receive information about the services and care units available, to know the health problems of the community that pose a risk to himself and to receive absolutely true information.

Social Security also has “Patient Care” offices, where patients can call to claim or complain if they think they haven’t been treated in a correct way. 

Health services

Spanish health care system has a health promotion and prevention pan divided in different areas to improve everyone’s health. Nowadays, the most important areas in which this system is focus are:

·         Childhood

o   Children’s Health Rights

o   To prevent

o   Vaccinations

o   SEEN Nutrition Recommendations

o   Healthy environments for children

o   Campaigns related to childhood health

·         Adolescence

o   Physical Activities

o   Alcohol

o   Promoting the Healthy Adaptation of Or Adolescents

o   SEEN Nutrition Recommendations

o   HBCS study

·         Adults

o   Alcohol

o   Physical Activity

o   Accidents

o   Analysis of the situation of natural therapies

·         Greater

o   Elderly People

o   Physical Activity and Sedentarism

·         Women

o   Pregnancy

o   Menopause

o   SEEN Nutrition Recommendations

o   Health and Gender

o   Campaigns related to women’s health

·         Tobacco

All these areas have specific plans to prevent and act. Most of prevention measures and campaigns focus in speeches, activities and publicity directed to a target group to decrease the risk to get specific illnesses or wrong decisions about health topics, as alcohol or tobacco.

If someone suffer an accident in his or her work placement, or get an occupational disease, “Mutua” will give her or him and allowance and provide the client everything he or she need. The rest of emergencies are attended by Social Security.

Social services

Spain has a big list of different social services systems and plans free of charge:

·         Families

·         Gypsy Population

·         Childhood

·         Social inclusion

·         Disability population

·         Drugs and other addictive behaviours

·         Youth

Everyone with a difficult family situation, disabilities, addictions or takes part in a disadvantage group, has the right to be attended by Social Service system, and to receive a specific solution or treatment to solve his or her problem and help him or her to front facing his daily life in an easier way. 

All people that live in Spain, has the right to be attended by Social Services system. Most of the Social Centre systems and campaigns are organized by NGOs and volunteers, that want to improve the lives of others.

Spanish health and social situation nowadays

Nowadays, if we check citizen opinion in Ministry’s web page, we see that about seven out ten people consider that the health system works well; it means that more than three out of ten think they need changes. 

Spanish Health Care has more than 13000 Primary Care Centers around the country, 466 Hospitals, and its Urgencies and Emergencies receives 7 million performances. It has also has a telephone number specific for attention to victims of ill-treatment, that is available 24h.

Health Care and Social Wellbeing system is front facing to two main problems this 2020: obesity and violence.