Spain's Primary Care System Faces Long Waits and Tightened Sick‑Leave Controls

In Galicia, the regional health service (SERGAS) has stepped up inspections of sick‑leave cases, a policy promoted by President Alfonso Rueda and supported by national PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo as a model for the rest of Spain. Doctors warn that patients are waiting an average of eight months for specialist appointments while the stricter oversight labels long‑term sick‑leave recipients as "defrauders."

Nationally, the collapse of primary‑care services is reflected in a new health barometer showing Spaniards now wait a mean of 10.3 days for a primary‑care visit, up from 8.7 days in 2024. Medical societies—including the Spanish Society of General Practitioners (SEMG), the Society of Primary‑Care Physicians (Semergen) and the Family Medicine Society (semFYC)—attribute the strain to chronic understaffing, poor working conditions, and a lack of younger doctors entering the field. The combined pressure threatens timely diagnosis, patient confidence, and overall health‑system efficiency.