Health equips the National Health System with human and professional resources to combat and try to contain COVID-19


The Minister of Health, Salvador Illa, has appeared at a press conference to report on the initiatives undertaken by the Ministry of Health aimed at strengthening the public health system to combat and try to contain COVID-19 as soon as possible.

Regarding the expansion in 50,000 professionals of the current health team, the minister has detailed that it is a group made up of 7,633 R4 and R5 resident doctors (from the last year of training) of all specialties who will see their contract extended to continue developing their work in the health services.

They are joined by almost 11,000 medical and nursing professionals who carried out specialized selective tests and who, having exceeded the score, did not receive a place.

In addition, 14,000 doctors and nurses retired in the last two years will be able to join depending on healthcare needs. The autonomous communities and health services have in their databases the people who are in this situation.

Finally, a total of 10,200 nursing students and 7,000 final-year medical students are available to provide health support tasks.

To these measures to strengthen technical and professional materials, "we must add the financial support that the Government is going to provide to the autonomous communities to face the extraordinary expenses generated by this exceptional situation," added Illa.

Thus, of the extraordinary item approved in the last Council of Ministers"We are going to start in the next few hours," said the minister, "the distribution of a first amount of 210 million euros that will help the autonomous governments to have a quick response to the most urgent actions." The allocation to each territory will be based on the number of affected and the population.

Efforts have also been streamlined so that, in the next few days, the first rapid test contingents begin to arrive and to expand the number of controls to the most vulnerable population and groups of people who are at home with mild symptoms.

In addition, three clinical trials are underway to combat COVID 19: two of them for seriously ill patients and a third for patients at an early level and as prophylaxis. "These are still first steps, but we hope they can give good results," said Salvador Illa.

Centralized purchase

Regarding the material, Illa has clarified that "the Government has not made any seizures of masks or other technical material, but has been receiving information from the stocks, making purchases or donations, and redistributing between the different territories." So far, more than a million and a half surgical masks have been collected from purchases and donations, "an amount that will be increased significantly in the coming days," he pointed out.

Centralized purchasing is designed to meet three objectives: to reinforce the purchasing processes of the autonomous communities, distribution to meet the pressing needs of the population and professionals, and to organize production capacity nationally and internationally.

Professionals, the essential value

The minister stressed that the "good image of our health system, considered one of the best in the world, has a reputation that is more than justified." And he added that the professionals "who perform every day without sparing hours or effort, constitute the most essential value of the health system. For this, they have earned our trust and our gratitude, as the whole country transmits to them every afternoon since balconies".

The Minister of Health has concluded his intervention highlighting that "from the Government, we are acting with determination in the mission that health care reaches all citizens equally wherever they live."



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