The Minister of Health and Consumer Affairs of the Andalusian Government, Rocío Hernández, appeared before the Health Committee of the Andalusian Parliament to present the progress and challenges in terms of healthcare employment in the community. During her speech, she emphasized the commitment of the Andalusian Government to achieve the stability of 94% of the staff of the Andalusian Health Service (SAS), because, as she stated: «One of the keys to strengthening the public healthcare system is that its staff, in other words, all the professionals who work tirelessly for our health, are as stable as possible.»
Hernández explained that the Andalusian healthcare system faces a dual challenge. On one hand, «the progressive aging of the population,» which leads to an increased demand for healthcare resources. And on the other hand, «the scarcity of healthcare professionals in general, which affects not only Andalusia but also the whole of Spain and Europe.» In this context, she highlighted the Andalusian Government’s commitment to stabilizing employment in the SAS, which has allowed the fixed staff to increase from 48,500 professionals in 2018 to 88,664 in 2024, representing an 82.81% increase.
Furthermore, she noted that on December 26, the Council of Government took a further step to address this complex challenge by approving the largest Public Employment Offer for the SAS in 2024, with a call for 13,486 positions, including 12,568 open-access positions and 918 internal promotion positions. This OEP supplements the calls for the years 2022, with 4,629 positions, and 2023, with another 3,838 positions, whose exams will be held between April 26 and October 18. In this way, the minister emphasized, a total of 21,953 positions will be stabilized.
The Minister of Health and Consumer Affairs emphasized that, «in a competitive system like the autonomous one in this country, where healthcare professionals can choose where they work, we must make an effort to strengthen the foundations of our public healthcare.» Thus, since 2018, various public employment offers have been implemented to stabilize nearly 40,000 professionals in the SAS, which was «crucial» in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.
This new public employment call, as detailed by the minister, is the result of meetings held with trade unions, particularly the Sectorial Committee meeting on October 28, 2024, where the final data on the replacement of staff were finalized, and the proposal for professional categories and specialties for the 2024 public employment offer was consensually agreed upon for submission to the Council of Government, as well as the reservation of 10% of positions for people with disabilities.
The OEP calls for 921 positions for Primary Care doctors, 92 for pediatricians, and 288 for nurse specialists in Family and Community Nursing, to which another 123 from internal promotion will be added. Additionally, this decree will serve as a platform to stabilize up to 5,421 positions for nurses or 3,410 auxiliary nursing care technicians.
Additionally, the call includes 44 positions in Anesthesiology and Resuscitation, 22 in Clinical Analysis, 29 in General Surgery and Digestive System, 25 in Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology, 44 in Intensive Medicine, 78 in Internal Medicine, 22 in Cardiology, 13 in Endocrinology and Nutrition, 22 in Pneumology, 21 in Gynecology and Obstetrics, 24 in Medical Oncology, and four in Radiotherapy Oncology or 21 in Radiodiagnosis.
Hernández added that the OEP also includes 31 positions for Clinical Psychology, 65 for Psychiatry, and 38 for Specialist Nursing in Mental Health, in line with the goal of strengthening mental health care in this Department. Finally, among the other categories, the OEP also allocates 580 positions for administrative employees and 843 for auxiliary personnel in the field.
The minister concluded by affirming that this staff stabilization process clearly aligns with the three objectives she set out at the beginning of her term: «More permanent staff in the Andalusian healthcare system translates into better health for the people of Andalusia; increased security and trust in everything that this treasure, which is public healthcare, represents for our population; and greater involvement of the thousands of professionals who will have a stable position.»