Andalusia

Spain

About the region

Andalusia is one of the 17 regions (‘Autonomous Communities’) in Spain, located at the south-west of Europe. Covering 87,597 km2, with a population of 8.4 million, life expectancy is 81.9 years (79.2 males and 84.5 females). The region has a rich culture and a strong identity. Many characteristics Spanish cultural phenomena are Andalusian in origin. These include flamenco, bullfighting or Hispano-Moorish architectural styles. Andalusia has been a agricultural region historically, however, the regional economic growth has been above averate in Spain, especially in the industrial and services sectors.

Health and social care in the region

The Regional Ministry of Health and Families of Andalusia (CSFJA) is responsible for public health, health policy, planning and regulation, and the provision and management of health care in the region, among other competencies. It leads the Public Health System (APHS) providing all public healthcare services through a network of integrated healthcare facilities organized to ensure the accessibility of the total population: 1,500 primary care centres, 49 hospitals. There is a massive use of the corporate healthcare information system and eHR (Diraya). Several initiatives for health and social services collaboration and step by step integration are in place: the Regional Single Social Record follow the model of Diraya, fluent connections between Telecare Service and the Health call centre (SaludResponde) and health emergencies coordination centres, and the health report within the process of dependency, among others.

With the help of VIGOUR we want to achieve better social and healthcare coordination and share our experience in integrated healthcare.

VIGOUR in the region

CSFJA participated in all work packages, particularly in the scaling-up phase. In the framework of VIGOUR, the target population was the one requesting assessment for the “dependency situation” (social services connect health system through specific procedure). Over 200.000 people have been recognised in the situation of dependency until 2018. Improvements in this procedure were done in collaboration with our affiliated entities in this project: the Andalusian Health Service, the Andalusian Public Foundation Progress and Health and the Agency for Social Services and Dependence of Andalusia, dependent on the Regional Ministry of Equality, Social Policies and Conciliation.