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The Ministry of Health and the Centre for Sociological Research have published the results of the third wave of the 2025 Health Barometer, which offers an updated snapshot of public opinion on the functioning of the public health system. The results show a general improvement in the positive perception of the functioning of public health services, especially at the levels of care most used by the population: emergency services, primary care, hospital consultations and hospitalization. Primary care remains the main point of access to the public healthcare system and one of the most highly valued by its users. According to data from the Barometer, 82.3% of the population has visited a primary care physician in the public system at least once in the past year. Among these users, the positive assessment of the care received reaches 80.1%, which represents a significant improvement compared to the 78.5% recorded in the second wave. This increase in satisfaction is partly explained by the trust and confidence conveyed by the healthcare staff. Nursing staff received an average score of 8.04 out of 10, and medical staff, 7.76, remaining the highest-rated aspects of the service. Furthermore, 16.8% of consultations were conducted by telephone, a method that continues to be highly popular. However, when considering the general population as a whole—including those who did not use the service during the past year (12.2%)—the overall assessment of the public healthcare system's performance decreases, reaching 5.89 out of 10, compared to 6.13 the previous year. This drop reflects a somewhat more critical perception among those who did not have direct contact with the system during this period. Waiting times Regarding waiting times in primary care, only 22% of people who visited their family doctor in the last year were seen on the same day or the day after requesting an appointment. The rest reported having to wait longer due to a lack of availability on previous dates. In these cases, the average waiting time was 9.78 days. Among those who experienced difficulties accessing a consultation —23.7% of the surveyed population—, 53.3% ended up resorting to an emergency service and 29.3% indicated that, when the assigned date arrived, they no longer needed the visit. During the past year, 50% of the surveyed population reported having used a public healthcare emergency service. Of these, 42.9% used primary care emergency services, 50.8% went to hospital emergency departments, and 6% used the 061/112 emergency services. Overall, these services were rated positively by 71% of those who used them. Hospital care 47.9% of the population has been seen by a specialist in the public healthcare system in the last twelve months. Positive assessments of specialist care reach 78.1%, slightly higher than the 77.8% recorded in the second wave. This is a key service for the diagnosis and monitoring of complex health problems. Among the elements most highly rated by the public are the trust conveyed by medical staff (7.64 points) and the information received about the state of health and the treatment (7.58), fundamental elements for clinical support and shared decision-making between patient and professional. Hospitalization Hospital inpatient care shows the most significant improvement compared to the previous year. 11.5% of the population has been admitted to a public hospital in the last twelve months, and 83.7% of those admitted rate the care they received positively—five points higher than in the second wave (78.4%). The care provided during hospitalization received the highest scores of all the levels of care analyzed: 8.21 points for nursing care and 8.18 for medical care. These data reflect the public's recognition of the work and commitment of hospital teams, even in contexts of high healthcare pressure. Twenty percent of those surveyed reported having private health insurance, either purchased by themselves or by a family member, while 11% have insurance provided by their employer. These figures reflect a slight change compared to the second wave of the study, in which the percentages were 21.6% and 10.1%, respectively. Despite having private health insurance, a large majority of these individuals expressed confidence in the public system for more complex situations. Specifically, 65.6% of those with health insurance stated that, in the event of a serious health problem, they would prefer to be treated in the public healthcare system, compared to 61.4% who expressed this preference in the previous survey. Diagnostic tests For the first time, the Health Barometer has collected specific information on diagnostic testing for new health problems, as well as the time elapsed between the medical recommendation and the test being performed. According to the results of the third wave in 2025, 20% of the population aged 18 and over reported having undergone an ultrasound scan in the last 12 months. This is followed by CT scans (16.5%), MRI scans (15.3%), and colonoscopies (5.1%). This data provides a more detailed view of access to and response times for diagnostic imaging and digestive endoscopy. Regarding waiting times, it was observed that more than half of the tests were performed within one month of the medical order in the case of ultrasounds (55.6%), CT scans (52.7%), and MRIs (50.7%). In contrast, colonoscopies had a lower percentage of procedures performed within that timeframe (39.4%) and the longest average waiting time recorded, at 109.8 days. MRIs, with an average wait of over 90 days, and CT scans, at 64.32 days, had the shortest average waiting times among the tests analyzed. You can consult the complete data on the website of the Center for Sociological Research (www.cis.es). For any questions, the Communications telephone number is 91 580 76 25.

Cuadernos metodológicos

10 JUN 2025

...Esta colección ha sido galardonada por la Unión de Editoriales Universitarias Españolas (UNE) con el Premio Nacional de Edición Universitaria 2009,...