Spain: Cardiovascular Primary Care Overview

During the first EPCCS Council meeting in December 2017 brief introductions were provided on the current organization of cardiovascular risk management in primary care in different countries.

In Spain there are 2 big organizations regarding general practice,

Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine

This society is approximately 18,000 GPs, residents, and medical trainees. (total nr of GPs in Spain is approimately 34,000). There are several research groups and specialty working groups in cardiovascular diseases within the 17 different regions of Spain. There is a preventative task force called PAPPS, Promoting Activities and Primary Care and we have generally published [inaudible 01:07:24] guidelines to follow the main Promoting Activities and Primary Care.

Regarding primary healthcare university research institutes, IDIAP Jordi Gol is an extensive research institute located in Barcelona and is sponsored by the Catalan Health Administration and associated to the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. There are more than 200 researchers in different research areas. In cardiovascular research, there are 6 groups that are certified by the Health Academic Administration.

Guidelines in Spain

New guidlines are updated almost every year and in some cases 2 years. The guidelines about preventative activities are divided into children, mental health, women, and the rest. Cardiovascular is on the rest. It is made by our working group formed by different experts in cardiovascular field made up of about 6 or 7 GPs who usually update the guidelines and the different recommendations from the Task Force, European Association of Cardiology, and so on. Their task is to adapt the different recommendations to the Spanish reality.

The other is Sociedad Española de Medicina General, SEMERGEN