La organization has highlighted that the multidisciplinary teams of these services address issues ranging from prevention and health promotion to the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of chronic and acute diseases, all while ensuring the sustainability of the system, optimizing resources, and guaranteeing a closer and more personalized care.
For all these reasons, semFYC has called for the promotion of the Primary Care Plan 2025-2027 as the basis for the multipotential development of this healthcare field, which should also include the development of research at this care level, for which the creation of more foundations and research institutes should be encouraged.
«It is necessary, at this point, to have a fair, sufficient, and targeted budget in the General State Budgets and its scaling at the level of autonomous community, health area, and management with the fulfillment of the already structured monitoring objectives,» it stated.
Likewise, it has considered it necessary to shield Primary Care against the hiring of non-homologated professionals in specialist positions, and has requested the commitment of all autonomous communities.
Other requests made include having all stakeholders to ensure the replacement rate of specialists in Family and Community Medicine, for which a proper redistribution of positions among specialties is necessary to cover the real replacement needs of the National Health System (NHS).
CHALLENGES OF PRIMARY CARE
On the other hand, semFYC has identified the «major challenges» that Primary Care faces in the short, medium, and long term, such as multimorbidity, population aging, the increase in chronic diseases, digital transformation, the rise in healthcare demand, growing mental health issues, adaptation to the effects of the climate crisis, antimicrobial resistance, emerging pathologies, future pandemics, and addressing the health of young people.
This is why it has emphasized the importance of ensuring the quality of Primary Care, which involves retaining professionals, guaranteeing replacement needs in hard-to-cover positions, and addressing a model that responds to current healthcare demands.
«Today’s residents are the doctors of the future, and we must ensure that they have the best working conditions and professional development opportunities,» added semFYC, stressing that it is «vital» to offer competitive contracts with financial incentives, including support in relocation and work-life balance, and recognizing and valuing the effort they make in hard-to-cover areas.
The association has shown its commitment to an organizational model based on the care triad of doctors, nurses, and administrative staff working together to ensure comprehensive and efficient care, which requires funding that allows for the proper distribution of resources.
Likewise, it has urged the evolution of Specialized Training towards an exam that demonstrates knowledge in the development of common clinical practices in real situations, avoiding an exam loaded with questions related to micro-specialties.
THE ROLE OF AI IN THE FUTURE OF PRIMARY CARE
semFYC has stated that Artificial Intelligence (AI) has «enormous potential» to improve Primary and Community Care through the optimization of administrative processes, personalized care, and clinical decision support, although it is «crucial» to address ethical challenges regarding data privacy, equity in access to these technologies, and adequate training of healthcare professionals.
Another proposal from the organization is to implement a health literacy plan adapted to the needs of each population group, from prevention and self-care campaigns to the inclusion of health subjects in primary and secondary school curricula.
«Primary Care in our country is a recognized jewel worldwide, a benchmark of the Spanish brand in healthcare. Today, April 12, we advocate for a necessary pact for the change of organizational model to move towards a management system that allows Primary Care to adapt to the current and future needs of the population,» semFYC concluded.