It has been brewing for some time, and yesterday the Ministry of Health announced the following: Catalonia will concentrate all primary care paediatricians in a total of 79 health centres, representing 20% of all health centers in Catalonia (378). The model of one pediatrician per CAP or one pediatrician per district has ended. Now there will be a team of several professionals, in the same physical location, for each area a maximum of half an hour away from each home.
Covid has stimulated this new structure of regrouping these specialists in a few centers which is not without controversy. In addition, Salut will also integrate a new children’s service on 061 Salut Response to answer families who call.
Catalonia already has 25 health centers operating in this way and there will be 79 that will do so over the next year, when this model is fully implemented. It has the support of medical and nursing associations and political groups, but not citizens’ movements such as Maria Blanca and the Catalan Forum for Primary Care (Focap). , which criticizes parents having to travel farther so their children can receive care. Salud advocates that this model is better — it does not involve workforce reductions — and points to the shortage of doctors (specifically pediatricians) to defend it. For example, the CAP Maragall center in Barcelona works as follows: there are 12 pediatricians working in a team that brings together three neighbourhoods. It can be said that Selo has not yet provided a list of these regional teams or their locations, which causes confusion for families, who do not know where they will have to take their child.
According to the head of children’s health, Gemma Riccus, the aim is to “organize children’s care” to provide “high-quality assistance adapted to new requirements”. Thus, this model proposes the creation of regional child care teams (ETAP), which will care for children and adolescents aged 0 to 14 years. These teams will also have specialized nurses, dentists and administrators.
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