Catalan Health Minister: 'Goal for 2024 is to improve relationship between primary care and hospitals'

In the coming months, the Catalan Department of Health will introduce a new figure in the healthcare system: care coordinators, or, in Catalan, referents assistencials. They will work as a “link” between Primary Health Centers (CAP) and hospitals to help reduce waiting lists, Catalan Health Minister, Manel Balcells, said in an interview with the Catalan News Agency (ACN).

"The main goal of 2024 will be to improve the relationship between the primary care system and hospitals," Balcells explained.

It will also be easier to get an appointment, although the minister admitted that improvements still need to be made.

The 2024 effort will focus on improving health outcomes by looking at the "flows, maps, and functionality" of the system, the minister said.

Coordinators to promote “teamwork”

One of the measures to improve the health system are the new care coordinators. They will follow up on tests and consultations that the CAPs ask for to avoid denials of treatment or duplications, which can reduce waiting lists both at primary care centers and at specialist centers.

The idea of the health department is to maximize the coordination between the primary health care system and hospitals, and to have "more teamwork."

"Workers must find and agree on protocols," stressed Balcells.

The goal is not to refuse a test or consultation when a patient is referred to a hospital, the minister explained. "A patient needs to be received and not sent back with the message that [the procedure] is not required. It is one of the most infuriating things there is at CAPs."

Improve access 

A few months ago, the Catalan government rolled out a plan to improve access to the health system and reduce waiting lists, which has been one of the biggest concerns in the Catalan system for years.

According to Balcells, there has already been an improvement in access, but the minister also admits that it is "necessary to insist on achieving set goals."

It is still unclear how many care coordinators there will be in Catalonia and where they will be located, as the concrete plan has not yet been laid out.