The II Analysis of care levels in Spain, conducted by the Working and Research Group of the Coordinates Institute for Governance and Applied Economics (ICGEA), presents a comprehensive view of the Spanish health system through a series of comparative assessments. Madrid stands out for its progress in specialized care, and the analysis tracks 2022 data not only in isolation but also in comparison with the previous year.
In this second installment of the Spanish healthcare analysis, experts examine the shift from 2021 to 2022 across hospital visits, surgical procedures, emergencies, hospitalizations, and births, along with other key indicators.
Spain, overall, records a recovery year. Although 2022 began amid the omicron wave, improvements emerged as the year progressed, returning to pre-pandemic activity levels in many domains. This is a trend researchers hope will continue into 2023, noted Jesús Sánchez Lambás, Vice President of the Coordinates Institute.
Regionally, Madrid is highlighted as the area with the strongest progress in hospital consultations. It is described as the fastest-growing community in hospital care, with a 13.07% rise, more than double the national average of 5.67%, and 10.71%, modestly above Catalonia by two points.
Communities such as Castilla-La Mancha show performance below the national average, with a 0.16% increase from 2021 to 2022; the Basque Country records 2.16%; and the Community of Valencia reaches 2.84%. Castilla y León, Aragón, Galicia, and Navarra report declines in hospital consultations in 2022, at -5.57%, -4.72%, -1.86%, and -0.94%, respectively.
emergencies
Experts point out that there is a lack of specialized studies on emergencies in Spain, citing an aging cohort of emergency physicians and imbalances in space or MIR allocations across autonomous communities that contribute to saturation in emergency services, among other factors.
As the general demand for emergency care grows, there is concern about a weakening trend. The surge in visits to emergency departments has highlighted structural challenges within the system, not only in Madrid but across the National Health System. These services often exceed their capacity when demand spikes and are meant to address real needs.
When breaking down by region and comparing 2021 with 2022, Madrid again shows the highest year-over-year increase in hospital emergency room visits at 13%, well above the national average of 5.71% and higher than Catalonia’s 10.91%. Castilla-La Mancha posts a modest 0.61% rise, below the national average; Valencia records 2.70%; and the Basque Country 3.17%. In Castilla y León, Aragón, Galicia, and Navarra, emergencies decrease in 2022 versus 2021 by -5.31%, -4.89%, -1.74%, and -0.18% respectively.
surgical interventions
According to the Coordinate Institute Working and Research Group, Madrid shows the largest growth in surgical interventions in 2022. Catalonia follows as the second-fastest-growing region with a 13.02% rise compared to 2021 (versus a national average of 5.78% and a regional rise of 10.92%). Castilla-La Mancha records a 1.18% increase, below the national trend; the Basque Country 2.31%; and the Valencian Community 2.49%.
Regions such as Castilla y León, Aragón, Galicia, and Navarra experience notable declines in the number of interventions in 2022 relative to the previous year, at -5.21%, -4.77%, -1.85%, and -0.34%, respectively.
Regarding hospital stays and births, the report indicates that the overall level of care remained stable across communities in 2022, with a 1.02% rise in hospitalizations and a 0.42% decrease in births. In Madrid, hospital stays rose by 0.51% while births fell by 0.64%. Nationally, hospitalizations average 844.4 per 1,000 people, whereas Madrid records 786.1. Births average 8.3 per 1,000 people nationally, with Madrid at 7.3 per 1,000.
For other care dimensions, Madrid grows 12.94% in 2022, outperforming the national average of 5.85%. In the Madrid Community (CAM), indicators reach 205.7 per 1,000 inhabitants, compared with 169.2 across all regions.