Health care in Spain - wikipedia Health care in Spain Spain enjoys a universal health care system for all citizens and, under certain conditions, also non-citizens. The system is essentially free except for small, often symbolic co-payments in some products and services. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, total health spending accounted for 9.4 % of GDP in Spain in 2011, slightly above the OECD average of 9.3 %. The Spanish health care system is considered one of the best in the world, in 7th position in the ranking calculated by the World Health Organization. Spain is ranked 1st in the world in organ transplants. The public sector is the main source of health funding. In Spain, 73 % of health spending was funded by public sources in 2011, very close to the average of 72 % in OECD countries. Since 2010, real term spending on healthcare has declined in Spain. Contents 1 Hospitals 2 Decentralisation 3 International comparisons 4 See also 5 References 6 External links Hospitals Main article : List of hospitals in Spain In an emergency, people can go straight to a hospital A&E. For any other type of hospital treatment a referral from a doctor is required. There are public and private hospitals, with the former providing free treatment. As some hospitals offer both private and state healthcare services, the presentation of a social security card, an EHIC, or proof of private insurance is advisable. As hospital doctors do not issue prescriptions, after discharge, patients take the hospital medical report to a pharmacy for prescriptions to be filled. In Spain patients have the right to read their own patient records, but there is evidence that this is not well publicised. Decentralisation In Spain, provision of health care services is decentralised, and thus the responsibility of several autonomous communities. As of 2001, decentralisation was in effect in : Andalusia, the Canary Islands, Catalunya, Valencia, Navarra, Galicia, and Pais Vasco. In 1998, an analysis of the effects of greater autonomy on legislative performance and policy outcomes for health care observed a positive effect on the former, but no effect on the latter. The analysis noted that a possible explanation for this disconnect was that autonomous communities had only experienced greater autonomy in the area of health care for a short time, and positive effects on policy outcomes could take longer to manifest. In 2009, an analysis of data collected by the Spanish National Health Survey in 2001 showed that autonomous communities with decentralised health services tended to have better equity performance. In 2014, an analysis of data collected by the Spanish Centre of Sociological Research between 1996 and 2009 found that for twenty variables of public satisfaction with health care services, decentralisation not only had no effect on 2 measures of primary or specialised care and 1 of hospital care, but actually performed worse on 3 measures of primary or specialised care and 1 measure of hospital care. No statistically significant trend was observed for twelve of the twenty measures of satisfaction. The authors of the analysis stressed that the data was limited due to the subjective nature of patient reports, and the possible inability of some to properly evaluate performance of health care services. International comparisons In a sample of 13 developed countries Spain was second in its population weighted usage of medication in 14 classes in both 2009 and 2013. The drugs studied were selected on the basis that, in the previous 10 years the conditions treated had : a high incidence, prevalence and / or mortality ; caused significant long - term morbidity ; incurred high levels of expenditure or had significant developments in prevention or treatment. The study noted considerable difficulties in cross border comparison of medication use. Ceuta had the highest proportion of practising doctors per head of any region in Europe - 871 per 100,000 in 2015. The Euro health consumer index rated Spain 19th of 35 European countries in 2015, remarking that there was somewhat of an over-reliance on seeking private care. See also Spanish National Health System References Jump up ^ World Health Organisation, World Health Staff, ( 2000 ), Haden, Angela ; Campanini, Barbara, eds., The world health report 2000 - Health systems : improving performance ( PDF ), Geneva, Switzerland : World Health Organisation, ISBN 92 - 4 - 156198 - X Jump up ^ http://www.thelocal.es/20170111/how-spain-became-world-leader-at-organ-transplants Jump up ^ http://www.thelocal.es/20160225/global-transplant-leader-spain-reaches-its-100000th-transplant Jump up ^ `` OECD Health Statistics 2014 How does Spain compare ? '' ( PDF ). Jump up ^ `` Outcomes in EHCI 2015 '' ( PDF ). Health Consumer Powerhouse. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2016. ^ Jump up to : Costa - Font, Joan ; Gil, Joan ( December 2009 ). `` Exploring the pathways of inequality in health, health care access and financing in decentralized Spain ''. Journal of European Social Policy. 19 ( 5 ) : 446 -- 458. access - date = requires url = ( help ) Jump up ^ Antón, R., Macías, JI ; Muñoz de Bustillo, R ; Fernández Macías, E ( May 2014 ). `` Effects of health care decentralization in Spain from a citizens ' perspective ''. The European Journal of Health Economics. 15 ( 4 ) : 411 -- 431. access - date = requires url = ( help ) CS1 maint : Multiple names : authors list ( link ) Jump up ^ Gonzalez, Pablo ; Fraile, Marta ( October 1998 ). `` Regional Decentralisation of Health Policy in Spain : Social Capital Does Not Tell the Whole Story ''. West European Politics. 21 ( 4 ) : 180. access - date = requires url = ( help ) Jump up ^ Office of health Economics. `` International Comparison of Medicines Usage : Quantitative Analysis '' ( PDF ). Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. Retrieved 2 July 2015. Jump up ^ Ballas, Dimitris ; Dorling, Danny ; Hennig, Benjamin ( 2017 ). The Human Atlas of Europe. Bristol : Policy Press. p. 83. ISBN 9781447313540. Jump up ^ `` Outcomes in EHCI 2015 '' ( PDF ). Health Consumer Powerhouse. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2016. 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Question: what type of health care system does spain have
Answer: universal health care