In 2024, 24,802 urgent care cases involving EU and British citizens were referred to private healthcare centres.

The Regional Ministry of Health has announced the renewal of Decree-Law 1/2024 of 22 March, which regulates urgent and emergency care for European citizens in private healthcare centres.

In the next few days, the Official Gazette of the Balearic Islands will publish a new call for applications to extend membership of the Network of Health Centres and Services to Support Urgent and Emergent Health Care in the Balearic Islands, or to apply for it for the first time.

Decree-Law 1/2024 originally determined that membership of the Network would be for a period of one year. However, given the good results of the measure – which has helped to relieve congestion in public hospital emergency departments during the summer months – membership will no longer be for a fixed period.

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Health will renew the decree law regulating urgent and emergent care in the Balearic Islands for European citizens

This was announced by the Regional Minister of Health, Manuela García, accompanied by the director general of the Health Service, Javier Ureña, and the manager of SAMU 061, Eloy Villalba, during her meeting with UBES (Balearic Union of Health Entities). The meeting was also attended by the president of CAEB, Carmen Planas; the manager of UBES, Toni Fuster; the medical director of Clínica Rotger, Federico Sbert; the CEO of Juaneda Hospitales, Rodrigo Martín; the CEO of Hospital de Llevant, Gabriel Huguet; and the general manager of Policlínica del Rosario, David Medina.

During the year 2024, 24,802 urgent care patients were referred to private health centres in the Balearic Islands through the SAMU 061 Medical Emergency Coordination Centre.

This Decree establishes that the Health Service will financially cover the healthcare provided by healthcare entities that are members of the Network of Healthcare Centres and Services for the Support of Urgent and Emergency Healthcare of the Balearic Islands that provide urgent or emergency healthcare to citizens who – fulfilling the necessary requirements – are attended to in these centres and that this care cannot be covered by any other insurance.

It should be noted that the majority of UBES member entities have decided to form part of this Network, both in terms of their hospital and out-of-hospital facilities. This makes it possible to sponge the emergencies of the public health system.

The Decree-Law is aimed at providing health care to users who are in a clinical situation that requires immediate attention. This assistance can be provided in any of the centres that form part of the Network of Health Centres and Services for the Support of Urgent and Emergency Health Care in the Balearic Islands, depending on the criteria of the attending physician, the feasibility of the transfer depending on the distance, the condition of the user and the capacities and availability of the provision of this assistance that, at any given time, the publicly owned centres and the authorised centres have at their disposal.