Spain needs 'urgent economic growth' to sustain health service, warns research
Tuesday, August 6, 2013 @ 6:43 PM
IF THE International Monetary Fund (FMI)'s predictions about Spain's economy turn out to be true, it 'may not be able to guarantee' healthcare for all its residents, according to a hard-hitting report by the BBVA Foundation and Murcia University.
This will become more serious in the heavily-populated and constantly growing regions
The average expenditure on healthcare across the country would need to increase by 4.4 per cent a year between now and 2016 to be certain that every resident in Spain has access to medical treatment.
And the economy would need to show growth of 1.4 per cent a year over the next three to four years.
This is way below the level of growth predicted by the FMI.
Whilst health centres only represent 15 per cent of expenditure increase, the rest largely relates to hospitals and specialist areas, and staff costs account for 50 per cent of the total – despite many district hospitals in coastal areas and big cities being severely understaffed.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com