Catalonia's Health Department has reversed incentives for primary care centers to shorten sick leaves due to mental health and osteomuscular issues. The plan, opposed by parliamentary partners and health workers, will no longer impact center funding or professionals' variable pay. The department plans to notify centers next week.
Catalonia's Health Department, led by Olga Pané, has scrapped a controversial plan introduced early this year by CatSalut. It had linked part of primary care teams' (EAP) budgets and a portion of professionals' variable salaries to two indicators on average duration of Temporary Incapacities (IT) for mental health and osteomuscular conditions, targeting around 20 days.
The department argued the indicators assessed sick leave management, stemming from a 2025 deal with Spain's National Social Security Institute injecting €60 million annually to speed up diagnostics and tests, including at private centers. "The main goal is to prevent sick leaves from extending due to organizational issues, test delays, or specialist access problems," Health Department sources emphasized.
Yet ERC and Comuns, the government's left-wing allies, along with unions and groups like Metges de Catalunya, La Capçalera, and Focap, condemned it as an ethical overreach undermining medical judgment. In March, Comuns spokesperson David Cid warned their support for 2026 budgets hinged on not tying leaves to economic criteria. Mireia Prat, head of Primary Care at Metges de Catalunya, stated: “Using statistical criteria to set sick leave durations is simplistic and ignores our responsibility as physicians.”
To avoid misunderstandings, Health confirmed the indicators will not affect funding or variable pay. "Primary care doctors' professional judgment takes precedence over any other consideration," the department maintains, aiming to ease tensions after recent strikes amid budget talks.
