Primary Care serves an increasingly growing population…

The consultation of Primary Care attends to a increasingly older, chronic population with a greater mental health burden, according to data presented at the APDate 2026 conference. This meeting, organized by Italfarmaco Spain, has had the participation of the Spanish Society of Primary Care Physicians (SEMERGEN), the Spanish Society of General and Family Physicians (SEMG) and the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine (semFYC), together with the Spanish Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology (SEGG), and has brought together nearly 400 doctors from Primary.

Currently, in Spain, People aged 65 or over now represent a fifth of the population, according to data from the National Statistics Institute. Added to this is the burden of chronicity. Thus, 54.3% of those over 15 years of age suffer from at least one chronic illness, and among those over 65 the Multimorbidity affects 40% of men and 44% of women.

“The continuous training of Primary Care doctors is key to responding well to the great challenge of chronicity. Staying up to date allows us to offer more effective, close and sustainable care, with a direct effect on both the quality of life of patients and the proper functioning of the health system. Furthermore, specialists in Family and Community Medicine provide a comprehensive view: they not only address the disease, but also the family, social and emotional context of each person. Their preventive approach, their knowledge of the most frequent pathologies, their training in clinical epidemiology and their commitment to the appropriate use of resources make these professionals an essential piece in the care of chronic patients,” says Dr. José Polo, president of SEMERGEN.

This situation coincides with a first level of care that continues to work with strained resources. The National Health System has 0.8 Primary Care doctors per 1,000 inhabitants, while the Primary and Community Care Action Plan 2025-2027 includes coverage of 60%, as a weighted average of all the CCs. AA., of the vacant positions. “The priority is to strengthen the Family Medicine model to guarantee patient-centered Primary Care. Without family doctors with time, stability and recognition, continuity and quality of care is lost. Strengthening this model is to protect the patient and ensure the sustainability of the health system,” comments Dr. Pilar Rodríguez Ledo, president of the SEMG.

18% of Spaniards have consulted their doctor for mental health

On the other hand, the day has focused on mental health, one of the main areas of consultation for Spaniards and one that is experiencing the most growth. Thus, 18.2% of the population has needed to consult in the last 12 months for a mental health problem or for psychological or emotional discomfort. The WHO roadmap places the Primary Care at the epicenter of mental health. To this end, it considers it essential to reinforce the specific training of its professionals, incorporate specialized profiles into the teams, strengthen coordination with mental health services and enhance collaboration with other areas such as social services, education, employment or housing. This approach allows for more complete, agile and continuous care, adapted to both the severity of each case and the social reality of the patient, and contributes to improving access, reducing waits and offering better support.

While a recent article published in the semFYC6 magazine assesses that Primary Care is presented as a key platform for early detection, early intervention, continued support and coordination of mental health care. “It is precisely in these more complex contexts, when we work with mental health or chronic multi-pathological patients, in which it becomes more essential to demand the presence of a doctor specializing in family and community medicine, who guarantees the adequate follow-up of these patients. The population should be informed when, in different consultations, they are not treated by a professional who does not have their specialist title recognized,” adds the Dr. Paula Chao, vice president of semFYC.

The APDate 2026 meeting was inaugurated by Dr. Almudena Quintana Morgado, General Director of Assistance of the Madrid Health Service (SERMAS) and by Santiago Carolá, General Director of Italfarmaco. Quintana highlighted the “primary role of the primary care specialist” and assured: “Primary Care has to be more humanized and effective each time. The PC specialist is the only one capable of involving the patient and his environment, family, location in society, he sees the patient as a person with his entire environment, not just a medical history. It makes him see the disease with less anxiety and helps to increase therapeutic adherence.”