Isabel Díaz Ayuso's government has removed for the first time from the 2024 annual report of the Madrid Health Service (SERMAS) the data on external patients treated in privately managed hospitals, particularly those of Quirónsalud. This omission, criticized by the left-wing opposition, occurs amid scrutiny over payments to these companies. The Health Department assures that the data will be published on the web later.
The 2024 annual report of the Madrid Health Service (SERMAS), published this week, removes a table that for over a decade detailed the number of patients from outside their area treated in privately managed hospitals, such as the four of Quirónsalud: Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Valdemoro, Villalba, and Rey Juan Carlos de Móstoles, plus another from the Ribera Salud group in Torrejón. These figures allowed estimating extra revenues from the free choice system implemented by Esperanza Aguirre in 2010, which assigns patients by zone but permits external referrals, financially benefiting private centers.
For instance, Fundación Jiménez Díaz went from treating 16,574 external patients in 2013 to 84,082 in 2023, while Rey Juan Carlos de Móstoles increased from 7,028 to 64,820 over the same period. This growth has coincided with shorter waiting lists in these hospitals, attracting patients frustrated by delays in public ones, though overall SERMAS waits have risen 64% under Ayuso: from 623,490 appointments in August 2019 to 1,030,822 in September 2024.
The left-wing opposition, including PSOE and Más Madrid, denounces the omission as an attempt to hide privatization and concert expenditures. “We know why the SERMAS 2024 Memory was delayed so long! Ayuso HIDES in it for the first time how many patients she refers to each Hospital through her complicities with 'Free' Choice,” tweeted Carlos Moreno, PSOE's Health spokesperson. Marta Carmona of Más Madrid calls it an “outrage” and points to opacity in payments exceeding 5 billion euros to Quirón in Ayuso's six years, as revealed by EL PAÍS in June.
The omission comes amid scrutiny over ties between Ayuso's partner, Alberto González Amador, and Quirón, who is under investigation for alleged bribery. A spokesperson for the Health Department, led by Fátima Matute, explains it as due to a technical redefinition of criteria and that the data will be published on the web “when the necessary indicators are finalized.” They deny cover-up accusations: “The Community of Madrid is not suspected of not publishing its data, unlike other administrations”.
Moreno criticizes the system: “It is a system misnamed free choice. Because choosing between six months at La Paz and three weeks at Villalba is not freedom. It is blackmail.” Carmona urges rectifying the report by including the omitted table.