Pedro Sánchez, visited Ceuta last weekend, where he opened the Tarajal Health Centre. He was accompanied by the Minister for Health, Carolina Darias, the President of the Autonomous City of Ceuta, Juan Jesús Vivas, and the government delegate, Rafael García Rodríguez.
Speaking from inside the facility, the PM stressed his “commitment” to quality public health and stating that “protecting our public health requires, above all, budgetary resources and effective public policies committed to this important pillar of our welfare state”.
He appealed to all the administrations with competencies in health matters, to the autonomous regions, “to strengthen primary care together, instead of weakening it, because the needs of primary care go far beyond the demands of a professional group, they are a call for social progress”.
He underlined that his government has invested €1 billion in primary care, approving the Primary and Community Care Action Plan, which has already provided more than €446 million and recognises the role of primary care as the backbone of the entire National Health System.
He also highlighted that, compared to the 2018 call for applications, the number of vacancies for primary care doctors has increased by more than 35%, and by more than 160% for nurses.
Commitment to public health
“This is my commitment: public, free, universal and quality healthcare, because after a decade of neoliberal cuts that reduced resources and the number of healthcare professionals in our National Health System, we are making an unprecedented effort”.
In terms of health personnel, since 2018, the number of places offered in Specialised Training has increased by 38.2%, with 20% more MIR places, the largest offer of this kind in history. A plan has also been approved to reduce temporary employment and provide more than 67,000 health professionals with permanent contracts.
