Weak points of child and adolescent Primary Health Care in Spain (first part)

Introduction: the board of directors of the Spanish Association of Primary Care Paediatrics (AEPap) decided to address an analysis comparing the situation of child and adolescent assistance in primary care in different regions through the data provided by the corresponding regional federated societies.

Material and methods: in spring 2010 we conducted a survey using Web 2.0 technology with 16 expert paediatricians on the status of child and adolescent primary health care in Spain, we chose one paediatrician for each of the Spanish autonomous region. They answered 39 selected consensuated questions seeking organizational and intercommunity health care differences.

Results: we found significant discrepancies in the way of organizing the consultations in primary care among different regions. It generates iniquities to children, their families and professionals. We defined weak points as the posts with the most unfavourable features, such as general practitioners in paediatric offices, shortage of paediatric nursing, long work hours (work in the evening), low wages and lack of access to the Internet. The worst communities in this regard are Andalucia and Madrid with three of these weak points, followed by Catalonia and Murcia. We have only found four communities without weak points of care.

Conclusion: to reduce these differences in order to avoid important gaps in health resources devoted to children and adolescents falls on health authorities.