The counselor of health and social services of La Rioja, Maria Martin, In an interview in the ConSalud.es 2024 Yearbook, he reviews his first months at the head of the ministry after the four-year hiatus of the socialist government. The counselor has highlighted this year’s record investment in Health and especially in terms of professionals, as well as the main challenges of the region in the field of mental health and waiting lists.
What assessment do you make of your first months at the head of the counseling service?
I was also a Health Advisor in the 2015-2019 Legislature and the situation I have found is far from what we left four years ago. La Rioja was the second community, after Madrid, with the shortest surgical waiting lists; We had more professionals in Primary Care and our hospitals provided quality services that have been compromised. The work ahead of us is intense, but we have begun with determination to implement our management model and we are already seeing results that encourage us to follow this path.
“We have begun with determination to implement our management model and we are already seeing results that encourage us to follow this path”
I believe in active listening and since I joined I have been meeting with Primary Care and hospital professionals, and also listening to patients. It is essential to design policies. In determining our main lines of action, the decision taken by this Government to unite Health, Social Services and Justice in the same department is also of great importance. A structure that is proving decisive in promoting such priority strategies as those relating to Mental Health or Community Health.
What are the main challenges in the region in health matters at the moment?
One of the main challenges is the prevention, promotion and protection of health, both physical and mental. In addition, we have more than 125 measures aimed at citizens and health professionals in primary, hospital and public health care with the aim that patients enjoy better deadlines and guarantees for consultations and interventions. It is necessary to work to reduce waiting lists, and in just three months we have already managed to reduce the surgical delay by more than 16% by applying only extraordinary activity, but we have a more ambitious plan that we will develop this year, along with a strategy to primary care that is essential for the stability of the entire system.
The real challenge is to move forward to meet with quality the needs demanded by the new health and social health system in Rioja since the pandemic. This challenge cannot be understood without innovation, key to improving care. Thus, we are going to develop a new Biomedical Research Strategy for La Rioja, with the future Degree in Medicine or the implementation of the Omnichannel Care System (in-person, internet, app, telephone, etc.), among others. In terms of infrastructure, although we have reached an excellent level of development, we will continue working to maintain it with a multi-year health infrastructure plan that comprehensively covers the Riojan territory according to real needs.
What is the department’s commitment to ‘One Health’ policies?
It is necessary to perceive health as a whole that walks in the same direction: a single health. In this sense, we will increase the weight of public health within the Public Health System from a “One health” approach, developing both the facets of prevention and those of epidemiological surveillance, environmental health, food safety, occupational health and their relationship and coordination. with healthcare. To achieve this, we will promote an organizational model for Public Health professionals in response to the “One Health” concept, through the participation of different health professions and the incorporation of specialists from other areas of knowledge.
What are the proposals from the department regarding human resources?
The professionals of the system are the ones who make it possible for it to work and it is evident that their lack is one of the most serious problems that the Health System in Spain suffers from. This is what we have conveyed to the new minister, Mónica García, all the councilors unanimously; resuming some demands that we already raised in 2018 and with which nothing has been done and subscribing to the manifesto promoted by Galicia and the Basque Country in 2022 and which unfortunately was not attended to either.
“Our department is going to manage 819 million euros, 42% of the budget of the Autonomous Community. The objective is to invest in people”
But while the essential structural reforms that we need are adopted, in La Rioja we have not sat back. From June to December we have managed to recover the nine primary care professionals that we had fewer than in 2019 and we have already approved a Public Employment Offer that represents the stabilization of 204 positions; We will also open another 129 positions throughout the year in different specialties to reinforce our staff at all levels of care.
In this term we are also going to address a strategic change in terms of personnel since we will create new categories of professionals to respond to the new needs of the La Rioja Public Health System, such as bioengineers or healthcare process analysts. We are also going to develop an action plan that improves the work environment of professionals, taking into consideration aspects such as professional fulfillment, workload, emotional exhaustion, motivation, training, teaching and research. This is already reflected in the budget for 2024, with an increase of 15.7% in the personnel chapter, which is intended to fulfill the commitment to reinforce one of the fundamental pillars of the system: professionals.
What are the objectives of the ministry for 2024?
The Ministry of Health and Social Policies is very broad. And I think the best way to explain the objectives is to refer to what was budgeted. Our department is going to manage 819 million euros, 42% of the budget of the Autonomous Community. The goal is to invest in people. This is evidenced by the fact that public spending that will be allocated to health is 1,913.9 euros per inhabitant, increasing by 123 euros while the average growth in Spain is 91 euros, as indicated by the Federation of Associations in Defense of Health. Public healthcare.
The health budget experiences an increase of more than 32 million euros, of which almost 28 correspond to the Rioja Health Service, a body that provides direct services to citizens. In this sense, the budget allocation aimed at carrying out extraordinary activity to reduce waiting lists has increased. To reinforce Primary Care, almost 188 million will be allocated, 31% of the health budget, and 372 million will be allocated to Specialized Care, with an increase of more than 21 million. Thus, the allocation of investments in Primary Care for several Health centers increases and is complemented with direct investments such as, for example, the construction project of the Medicine degree building. I also want to highlight the creation of a new budget program for mental health and endowed with 1.4 million euros.
The intention of accounts for 2024 is to move from a culture of care for illness towards a culture of health promotion, promoting innovation and research in the field of health, prioritizing the well-being of people and the resources allocated to the professionals. For this reason, the amount allocated to vaccines increases by 65%, a demonstration of the clear commitment to prevention. Likewise, investment in the biomedical field is increased by more than 4 million euros, to give a boost to innovation in our health and social health system.
Regarding pharmaceutical policy, I would like to highlight the budgetary effort in both hospital and prescription pharmacy, which includes actions aimed at the rational use of medicine, adherence, coordination between the social and health spheres and technological advances that will contribute to improving efficiency and the effectiveness of management and the quality of life of citizens.