Despite the significant advances achieved in the discipline of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitationthe National Health System because it is not prepared and has not adapted at the logistical or human resources level to respond to this modernization and the growth of pathologies associated with disability, and urgent changes and measures are necessary, as warned by the Spanish Society of Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine (SERMEF).
This medical discipline has undergone a great change in complexity and modernization in treatments and solutions to deal with the high rates of disability in Spain, associated in most cases with the increase population aging constant. In Spain there are already more than 4 million people with disabilitieswhich represents approximately 10% of the population, according to the Disability, Personal Autonomy and Dependency Situations Survey.
As stated by the Dr. Roser Garretapresident of the SERMEF, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation is located “In constant change, it is becoming more complex, making doctors present in areas that they previously touched on the side, treating more complex patients and having to use new technologies such as telemedicine, virtual reality and neurorehabilitation«.
“It is undeniable that rehabilitation doctors have a very important role in the health system to help restore functionality to millions of people who need Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine as a consequence of the disability generated by the sequelae of diseaseswhich can be neurological, musculoskeletal, degenerative, cardiological problems, sequelae of a stroke, problems derived from old age or chronic pain, among other reasons ”, points out this expert.
In this sense, progress is impressivesince, for example, “Years ago it was unthinkable that we would care for the sequelae of cancer treatments or that we would be present in the recovery of critically ill patients who have survived the ICU, and now we do. In addition, our specialty has benefited from the important technological advances and the most precise robots and machines for the diagnosis and treatments of Physical Medicine are possible”.
However, the highest representative of rehabilitation doctors in Spain regrets that “Despite all the advances, since exercise has become as important a prescription as a drug, The health system is not keeping up with these changes. Opportunities and great improvements in technology and treatments are already a clinically applicable reality, but specialists find real difficulties for the advances to be implemented in the workplace because the National Health System is not prepared at the logistical or human resources level to respond to this modernization and the growth of pathologies associated with disability”.
“It must also be taken into account that we are facing a wave of disability in which the lists of people who present deficits in their functionality are increasing without stopping due to aging And the time has come to face this situation because we have the means and the knowledge»says Dr. Garreta.
In this context, the president of the SERMEF once again extends its hand to the Ministry of Health to “work on these urgent changes that cannot wait”. “We hope that, after the formation of the new Government, Spain will return to political stability and that the Ministry of Health will listen to us because we believe that we deserve its attention and dialogue”emphasizes Dr. Garreta, recalling that “The Ministry has for several years three SERMEF work proposals on the table of vital importance that need an urgent response to address this reality “. Is about:
- The portfolio of Basic Common Services of the National Health System
- The reordering of Rehabilitation Services and Physical Medicine
- The National Health Strategy in the field of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
For this reason, from the SERMEF, “We demand that the Government prepare a Prevention, early detection and rehabilitation strategy of processes that can generate some type of disability, a restructuring of the portfolio of services in the specialty and a review of the existing resources in the autonomous regions, and we are still waiting for a response».
“The current portfolio, in most communities, is based on physical therapy and does not take into account the growing globality of our specialty”warns Dr. Roser Garreta, advocating for a updated count of actual resources that the specialty has (volume of specialists, distribution, number of hospitals and their category, number of monographic centers…) for its reorganization and optimal distribution.
The president of also stresses that Spain suffers from a deficit of rehabilitation doctors. According to SERMEF data, the optimal average recommended at the European level for the number of rehabilitation doctors per 100,000 inhabitants is 4-4.5 per 100,000 inhabitants and the average in Spain is 3.1, but it is not homogeneous, since there are communities where it is up to 1.3-1.7 rehabilitation physicians per 100,000 inhabitants; while in Mediterranean countries and similar to Spain the average is higher. In Italy, for example, it is 4.7 rehabilitation doctors per 100,000 inhabitants.
And this despite the fact that, as Dr. Garreta points out, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation «It has earned its weight in health systems due to its proven scientific evidence and the benefits that its treatments bring to millions of people with disabilities« and stands out as “a great achievement” the recent indexing of the SERMEF scientific journal, Rehabilitation, in the prestigious database of Medlinewhich is the main bibliographic database of the United States National Library of Medicine with recognized international prestige. “It is very difficult to enter and we have achieved it and it is a sample of the evolution of the medical specialty”.