page_title: Spanish National Health System
section_title: Hospitals
hierarchical_section_title: Spanish National Health System / Health establishments / Hospitals
caption_attribution_description: Español: Hospital infantil de Sevilla
context_page_description: The Spanish National Health System is the agglomeration of public healthcare services that has existed in Spain since it was established through and structured by the Ley General de Sanidad of 1986. Management of these services has been progressively transferred to the distinct autonomous communities of Spain, while some continue to be operated by the National Institute of Health Management, part of the Ministry of Health and Social Policy. The activity of these services is harmonized by the Interterritorial Council of the Spanish National Health Service in order to give cohesion to the system and to guarantee the rights of citizens throughout Spain.
  Article 46 of the Ley General de Sanidad establishes the fundamental characteristics of the SNS:
  a. Extension of services to the entire population.
  b. Adequate organization to provide comprehensive health care, including promotion of health, prevention of disease, treatment and rehabilitation.
  c. Coordination and, as needed, integration of all public health resources into a single system.
  d.
context_section_description: A hospital is a health care establishment that provides inpatient care and specialized (and other) care, providing such services as are needed in its geographical area. A hospital can be a single structure or a hospital complex, even including branch buildings off of its main campus; it can also integrate any number of specialized centers.
  A similar concept to a hospital is a clinic. In Spain, a clinic (clínica) is a health center, typically a private one, where patients can receive health coverage in a broad range of specialties. Some of these clinics include very up-to-date operating theaters capable of providing minimally invasive surgery, and "hospitalization zones" where patients can recuperate on an inpatient basis. In large Spanish cities, there are numerous clinics. These are the facilities that are normally used by health care professionals whose medical societies cover it: ASISA, Adeslas, etc.
  The General Health Law of 1986 establishes that the level of specialized care provided in hospitals and their dependent specialty centers will focus care on complex health problems. Hospital centers will develop, besides their functions strictly related to health care, functions of health promotion, prevention of illnesses and investigation and teaching, in accord with the programs of each area of health, with the object of complementing their activities with those developed by the primary care network.
  As elsewhere in the world, the size of hospitals in Spain is often gauged by the number of "installed beds" (camas instaladas). This is the number of hospital beds with fixed locations; at any given time, some beds may be out of commission.
caption: Children's hospital in Seville.
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