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The management of heart failure in Spain
Author(s) -
Masiá Rafael,
Sala Joan,
Marrugat Jaume,
Roure Júlia,
CosínAguilar Juan
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
european journal of heart failure
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.149
H-Index - 133
eISSN - 1879-0844
pISSN - 1388-9842
DOI - 10.1016/s1388-9842(00)00077-5
Subject(s) - medicine , heart failure , management of heart failure , intensive care medicine , cardiology
Spain is a member state of the European Union w x with a population of 39 852 651 1 . The country is made of 17 autonomous regions with their own govŽ ernments. Seven of them Andalusia, Basque Country, Canary Islands, Catalonia, Galicia, Navarre and . Valencia , with approximately two-thirds of the Spanish population, have their own health authorities and systems, and the rest are included in the INSALUD Ž . Instituto Nacional de la Salud , depending directly on the Ministry of Health. The regional authorities and the INSALUD constitute the Servicio Nacional de la Salud or public health system. Following the constitutional precept that health is a right of all citizens and a responsibility of the state, the Servicio Nacional de la Salud provides universal coverage, as Ž established in the Ley General de Sanidad General . Law of Health of 1986. The public system has most of the healthcare resources and all its workers have a special status equivalent to civil servants. It is financed by public taxes and all citizens have free, unlimited access to it. A recent proposal of the Spanish parliament seeks to extend benefits to all immigrants, regardless of their legal status. The system is structured according to the various levels of care, with general practitioners, primary care centers and local hospitals at the first level. At the secondary level there are outpatient specialized centers, usually based in a regional hospital. This hospital may be of secondary level, with a cardiology