Grandstands
Bad practice – if confirmed – must be investigated, corrected and sanctioned.
As was foreseeable, the complaint published these days about possible irregular management practices of a privately managed public hospital in the Community of Madrid has been used immediately as a weapon to attack indiscriminately against the entire private health sectorwithout nuances, without rigor and without any type of prudence.
And that is deeply unfair. And deeply irresponsible. A bad practice – if confirmed – It must be investigated, corrected and sanctioned.
But extending that suspicion to an entire sector that is essential for the country is, simply, outrageous. First because Private Healthcare must be clearly differentiated from public Healthcare managed by a private company… which It is PUBLIC HEALTH.
Private healthcare operates by working as much as it can and the more complex the better, while the concessional model is based on health management of a population nucleus in exchange for one capita per individual and therefore, the business model is completely reversed.
Furthermore, reality is stubborn and it is worth remembering:
– He private health sector is essential to sustain the Welfare State. Without their contribution, the SNS would not have the capacity to absorb the demand.
– It is an economic and qualified employment engine, which provides innovation, investment and stability.
– It is – and it has more than demonstrated it – a loyal and effective ally of the public sector, as was more than confirmed during the pandemic.
In HM Hospitals We categorically reject any practice that discriminates against patients for economic reasons, or that selects pathologies based on their profitability.
This is not the spirit of the system, nor is it the way to understand medicine. The rules of the game in health They are clear: the patient comes first. Spot.
We, specifically, for example, have never participated in the concessional model. Not because they are illegal—they are not—but because we conceptually understand that they have a different business modelbut public-private collaboration in general is absolutely necessary.
Whoever intends to dismantle it must explain how they intend to address:
– To the millions of patients on the waiting list,
– A system saturated by aging and chronicity,
– A growing demand for increasingly innovative technology, diagnostics and treatments.
Without the participation of the private sectorthe National Health System would collapse. This is reality, not narrative. However, it occurred must be rigorously investigated.
The concession model must be rigorously controlled by the relevant authorities. And the responsibilities, if there are anymust be purged ruthlessly.
But turning a specific case into a general attack on the private sector is not only unfair, It is reckless for the functioning of the system and harmful to citizens.
No more, no less.
We follow… despite the storm that falls.
*** Juan Abarca Cidón is president of HM Hospitales.