According to the Survey on the situation of pediatric positions in health centers in Spain, prepared by Primary Care pediatricians, one in four children in our country is attended by a family doctor, and not by a pediatric specialist.
Both the Spanish Association of Primary Care Pediatrics (AEPap) and the Spanish Society of Outpatient and Primary Care Pediatrics (SEPEAP) have been warning for years of this serious situation in some health centers in our country in the absence of pediatricians.
Pediatric crisis
The direct consequences of this problem end up being paid by patients, in this case our children, since the time dedicated to each child is reduced Due to the work overload, the waiting rooms are full of sick children, and this has an impact on the quality of care.
In the absence of pediatricians, some family doctors take care of the little ones. Their ability as doctors is not discussed, but they are not professionals specialized in pediatrics. Dr. Concepción Sánchez Pina, president of the Spanish Association of Primary Care Pediatrics (AEPap), details:
"The total national percentage of places occupied by non-Pediatric specialists is of 25.25 percent (one in four), given great differences between communities, for example, the percentage varies between zero percent of the Rioja and 48.97 percent of the Balearic Islands ”.
In Babies and more Pediatricians are missing in the health centers of our country, and our children are the most affected The provinces with more and less pediatricians
There are 13 provinces in which the percentage of specialists is greater than ninety percent. These are:
- La Rioja, Valladolid, Zaragoza and Zamora, with one hundred percent of the places with specialists.
- Asturias, Burgos, Salamanca, and Cantabria, with between 95 and 100 percent.
- Palencia, Ourense, Guipúzcoa, Málaga and Pontevedra, with between 90 and 95 percent.
The five autonomies where there are fewer specialists, according to this survey, are Balearic Islands (51.03%), Castilla La Mancha (58.82%), Madrid (68.56%), Extremadura (69.56%) and Andalusia (70.52 %).
"Pediatricians advocate that children and adolescents are all equal and have the same rights" are three, eight or thirteen years old and whatever their age they are children, so they require specialized, separate and different attention from adults and the elderly, in their own consultations and by specialists in children's health ”, the professionals conclude.
Which are the main problems?
There is no appeal to the few specialists there are. Pediatricians prefer to work in hospitals than in health centers, because the working conditions in the latter are worse. In health centers they have lower salaries and they don't have guards to complement them.
Only 29% of Pediatric residents (MIR) choose health centers as their professional destination.
To this are added days loaded with patients (an average of 50 patients per day) without any incentive and afternoon shifts, which is when there are more patients, and that nobody wants because prevent reconciliation of the professionals.
There are twenty-seven provinces of our country where there are no pediatric positions in exclusive afternoon schedule, from 2pm to 9pm.
In Babies and more Pediatricians are missing in primary care consultations in our country, and it is very worryingThe pediatrician cannot be ignored or replaced
The children require the attention of specialized professionals. The AEP claims that institutions increasingly increase family medicine positions, professionals with a pediatric training of just six months, compared to pediatricians with a specialized training of four years.
"More and more children are cared for by non-specialized professionals in Pediatrics, without measuring the negative impact this has on their health. Without forgetting also the fundamental role that pediatricians have in the transition to adolescence, in directing healthy lifestyle habits to these ages, as well as fostering a good relationship with the family and with their peers. "
The big concern are children in adolescence, a critical period with a higher risk of initiating unhealthy lifestyles (smoking, drinking alcohol, leading too sedentary life or even starting unprotected sexual practices) and being left unprotected until the age of majority.
"No one can escape that if there are not enough pediatricians to care for children under 14, how are we going to have resources aimed at the most vulnerable group, adolescents," the experts conclude.
