CIS - Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas

Banco de imágenes: Unsplash

• According to the latest wave of the health barometer carried out by the CIS this year, only 26.1% prefer to go to private centers for primary care
• The emergencies '061' and '112' and the treatment of the nursing staff are the public health services best valued by patients
• For 30% of citizens, waiting lists have worsened during the last twelve months, although the figure improves by almost 10 points compared to the February health barometer.

Madrid, September 20, 2023. The Sociological Research Center has carried out the second wave of the health barometer during the month of July. A study in which the population was asked about the public health system in our country. 13.8% of those surveyed consider that the Spanish health system works “quite well”, a figure that improves compared to the first wave of this survey when it stood at 11.8%. For 46.3%, the health system “works well, although it needs some changes,” a figure that increases compared to February, when it was 40.8%. Only 11.8% believe that it works poorly and “needs profound changes”, a figure that decreases by 4.1 points compared to the first wave of this year's health barometer (15.9%).

Top rated healthcare services

When asking citizens for their rating out of 10 about some health services, Emergencies '061' and '112' are the ones that get the best score with a 7.49, followed by admission and care in public hospitals with a 7, 33. Both services repeat as the best valued compared to the previous health barometer. Specialized care consultations are the ones with the lowest score in this study with 6.17. Furthermore, citizens prefer public healthcare over private healthcare. 71.6% choose primary care and pediatric consultations in their public health centers, while 26.1% say they go to the private ones. The figure is equal when we talk about consultations with specialists, since 58.2% choose to go to the public, compared to 39.1% who choose the private one. When asking respondents with private health insurance why they have it, 75.7% claim that they did so because of the speed with which they are treated.

Optimism with waiting lists

The percentage of people who believe that waiting lists have worsened compared to the February health barometer decreases by almost 10 points. Now there are 29.7% who believe that this problem is getting worse, compared to 39.2% who said it was half a year ago. While 44.8% believe that the problem of waiting lists remains the same, the number of those who believe it has improved (13.8%) increases by almost 5 points compared to the first wave of this study when it was at 8.6%. When talking about improvements in primary care, those surveyed agree that the most important thing is to increase the number of health personnel (9,10), and for people to keep the same family doctor stably if they are satisfied (9,10). .10) and dedicate more economic resources with an 8.96 out of 10.

Remarkable high for nursing staff

According to people who have been admitted to a public hospital during the last twelve months, the care and attention of the nursing staff is the best rated aspect with 8.52, followed by the care of the medical staff with 8.38. The equipment and technological means existing in hospitals is also one of the aspects best valued by citizens with an 8.04 out of 10. Regarding telephone appointments with the doctor, 64.7% believe that “some consultations can be made by telephone and others should be in person”, while 32.2% assure that “all consultations should be in person”. You can consult these and other data on our website (www.cis.es), in the 'Health Barometer 2023 (second wave)' which was carried out from July 5 to 7, with a subsample of 2,586 interviews within a sample total of 7,800 interviews distributed in three waves.

Esta información puede ser usada en parte o en su integridad sin necesidad de citar fuentes.

C/ Montalbán, 8
28014 Madrid
Email: comunicacion@cis.es
Tlf.: 91.580.76.25
Fax: 91.531.81.31

Press release