Investment of 493 million for Primary Care infrastructures

The Government and the autonomous communities have discussed the situation of the human resources of Primary Care and a plan for the improvement of infrastructures, to which the Executive is going to allocate 493 million euros. It was the last Interterritorial Council of Minister Carolina Darias before leaving office to be a candidate for mayor of Las Palmas.

The Minister of Health, Carolina Darias (c), the Minister of Health of the Balearic Islands Patricia Gómez (i) and the Secretary of State for Health, Silvia Calzón (d), attend the Interterritorial Health Council this Friday in Palma. EFE / Cati Cladera

Darias has presented the funds to “improve the diagnostic capacity” of Primary Care and the infrastructures, although the plan is not detailed nor is the money distributed among the different administrations, as explained by the minister at the press conference after the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System (CISNS) held in Palma de Mallorca.

The minister, accompanied by the counselor for the Balearic Islands, Patricia Gómez Picard, explained that this infrastructure plan is included in the plan to reinforce Primary Care and will consist of carrying out works in health centers and doctor’s offices as well as improving the diagnostic capacity of Primary Care.

“An investment of this caliber has never been made in history,” Darias remarked.

Primary Care Infrastructure Plan

Specifically, the Primary Care Infrastructure Improvement Plan will make it possible to expand or renew radiodiagnostic equipment in health centers, improve the treatment of medical records so that all diagnostic capacity does not fall on the hospital setting.

In addition to these investments, the Ministry has shared with the autonomies the progress of the Human Resources Commission with some ideas to improve the situation of health workers, although it itself has insisted that the competence to apply these measures will not be from the Government but from the autonomous communities.

Some of the elements that he has pointed out but that are not specified is that incentives are established for places that are difficult to cover and thus put an end to the excessive turnover that exists in unpopulated or insular areas such as the Balearic and Canary Islands.

However, when journalists have asked him how to incentivize, Darias has replied that it should be the autonomous communities that do it, because the role of the Ministry is simply to “define the criteria” and propose different ways, such as offering more money, which it is computed at the time of competing in other places or when the research is rewarded.

Darias has also remarked that the Government has taken important steps to stabilize the staff of health centers and hospitals. “We are carrying out the largest stabilization process in the national health system, with 67,000 beds”, he remarked, a stabilization that was -he said- “a country priority”.

EFE/Pepa Diaz

Other agreements of the Interterritorial Council

On the other hand, the Interterritorial Council has approved the distribution of 3.5 million euros for the continuous training of health professionals.

In addition, the minister has announced the launch of a project for children with rare diseases called “Unique” and that seeks to “avoid pilgrimage” for parents of children with rare or low-prevalence diseases.

To do this, 25 hospitals will collaborate to share knowledge and that “the ones that move are the data and not the patients.”

The Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, has also announced the creation of the Emergency Medicine specialty, a historic claim by health workers, which will be the first of other new specialties to be created soon.

Next substitution of Darias

The Minister of Health has chaired for the last time an Interterritorial Council of the National Health System (CISNS) after having chaired a total of 75 meetings, most of them focused on the pandemic, and before focusing on the mayoral electoral campaign of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria before the municipal and regional elections on May 28.

On who will take over, to questions from journalists, Darias has answered with a “pasapalabra” and has referred to the words of Sánchez, who has already announced that it will be known after the motion of censure presented by VOX and that is being debated in Congress next week.

Carolina Darias arrived at the Ministry of Health on January 27, 2021, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, replacing Salvador Illa.