Rural medicine has taken a step forward this Thursday. From the headquarters of General Council of Official Colleges of Physicians (CGCOM) its president, dr. Tomás Cobo, sponsored the presentation of the first study of ‘Medicine and the rural doctor today ‘, with data obtained through surveys of the group to find out their situation and above all, provide solutions for the bloody lack of doctors in emptied Spain. The survey shows that -of the approximately 15,000 doctors who practice in rural health in Spain– 28%, about 4,500, will retire in the next 5 years. What will leave many unguarded populations and rural health as the “poor sister” of a Primary Care that was under water in the midst of a crisis.
It was unveiled this morning at a press conference in which dr. Thomas CoboPresident of CGCOM; Hermenegildo Marcosnational representative of rural primary care physicians of the organization; Francis Xavier Rodriguezgeneral secretary of the same office and the Doctor Jose Manuel Cucalona member of the Zaragoza College of Physicians who drew a precise portrait of the profession he practiced and which, outside the vocation, implies “isolation, loneliness, accessibility problems, working at night …”
No data on the total number
The doctors drew attention to a first issue. There are no data on how many doctors work in rural areas. Consult with various sources and statisticscalculate it between 11 000 and 15 000. In Zaragoza, according to Dr Cucalón, there are 276. Aragón, Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla-León, are the communities where the majority of the group is concentrated.
The survey conducted by the General Council received responses from 1,120 rural doctors from the 17 communities
“Further studies are needed to gain an in-depth understanding of the situation of medicines in rural areas and of the doctors working in it to address in a rational way the problems which plagues it and offers the appropriate solutions “, emphasizes Dr. Marcos.
The survey conducted by the General Council received responses from 1,120 rural doctors from the 17 autonomous communities and 38 different provinces. From the extracted results, it is noticeable that 91% of the respondents have the title of specialist in Family Medicine, 90% of the respondents consider themselves a rural doctor; and 85%, you feel satisfied in your workplace.
The impact of the pandemic
The pandemic made his job doubly complicated. “It took an incredible effort and the administration did not know how to propose the necessary measures, for example when replacements were needed, or contingency plans. we have come forward thanks to the enthusiasm of our collective that allowed us little by little to beat covid. What is clear is that rural health needs an intensive reform within the one that needs Primary Care “, Dr. Cucalón stressed.
At the press conference, data was presented depicting the terrible situation going through rural medicine. So, of those approximately 15,000 professionals practicing in small towns, 28% -about 4,500- will retire in the next five years. For this reason, the Council proposes rural centers as suitable to benefit MIR training and to maintain an adequate generational change.
elderly population
A situation that places the constraint on numerous populations left without medical offices, which has caused numerous neighborhood protests. Although the General Council is of the opinion that a review of the how many of those clinics should be in operationthe truth is that rural health experiences low hours, condemns those who attend a population every day in many cases aged and with numerous pathologies.
Can replace telemedicine face-to-face consultations How do some autonomous communities propose to alleviate this shortage of doctors? “You have to use all the tools, use them, but with reason, but in no case can they replace the presence of the doctor, nor the relationship with the patient. Empathy and contact are the key“, says the president of CGCOM.
retirement and leaks
According to the study, 45% of rural doctors are men and 55% women. The average age is over 50 years, almost a third of them are over 60 years old. Another third are between 50 and 60 years old. Only 14% of them are under 40 years old. It also reveals other data: two-thirds are associated with a scientific society, half are unionized and most are not teaching staff or resident tutors, and only a few is associate professor. There are few rural centers that are accredited for teaching, more than half are not.
Other data that emerge from the survey are that rural doctors are responsible for travel expenses, both for the care of their vehicles, for the accident insurance timely “in itinerary” and the mileage or fuel consumption. On top of that, 60% travel daily to get their work done.
Expenses and travel
45% of the respondents travel more than 50 kilometers daily to go to their towns and up to 5% travel more than 200 km; which means “personal wear and tear, economic losses and the risk of accidents, although despite this, up to 85% are satisfied with their workplace”.
Related news
More than half of the doctors have their referral hospital more than 30 kilometers from their offices.
In fact, 88% of rural doctors bear the cost of their trip; and 88% do not receive a budget item for these trips. More than half have a referral hospital more than 30 kilometers away from their offices and 15%, more than 60 kilometers away. 60% claim to have good telecommunications; 65% struggle to digitize their workplace; and 90% receive no incentive for their rural work.
Reference-www.elperiodico.com