Conservative win in Spain’s general election will boost role of private sector in healthcare

The private sector involvement in the management of Spain’s public health system is set to rise sharply if—as widely predicted—the conservative Popular Party wins the general election on 19 November.

The Popular Party electoral manifesto states that the party “will promote PPP [public private partnerships] for the management of infrastructures and public services.”

Although all regional health systems contract out some 15-20% of provision to private providers for waiting list management, public private partnership is so far only being developed in regions governed by the Popular Party and in Catalonia, which is governed by Catalan nationalists.

Spending on public private partnerships in the community of Madrid, which serves 6.5 million people and is governed by the conservative Popular …