The acute shortage of doctors, including in primary care, is a problem within the Andalusian public health service. The CCOO trade union reported on Tuesday ... that the Malaga-Guadalhorce health area had recruited 28 general practitioners and a paediatrician without the required MIR specialisation to temporarily fill these posts in primary care.
A resolution from 19 October 2026 provides for the temporary filling of 56 posts for GPs and paediatricians in centres within the Malaga-Guadalhorce health area.
It is common for AndAPap (the Andalusian association of primary care paediatricians) to report that a third of Andalusian children do not have a designated paediatrician, meaning that other healthcare professionals are providing this specialist care.
According to AndAPap, the SAS (Andalusian healthcare) is finding it difficult to recruit paediatricians, but it is not enough to attribute this solely to a shortage of specialists: it is also necessary to analyse why they are not registering on the recruitment pool.
The association points to pay differences compared with the private healthcare sector, excessive workload and difficulties in staffing rural areas.
The recruitment of doctors who have not completed their MIR specialisation is a measure resorted to in certain circumstances to meet healthcare needs in the face of a shortage of specialists. Its use is subject to the conditions set out in healthcare regulations.
The health and social care sectors trade union believes that this "should serve as a wake-up call". Primary care is the entry point to the public health system and "it requires stable staffing levels, proportionate to care needs and with the necessary resources to serve the public".
The practice of filling posts "with workers who do not hold the MIR specialist qualification must be analysed in the context of the shortage of specialists and the difficulties healthcare organisations face in filling their specialist posts".
The CCOO is urging the regional ministry of health to take measures to retain staff, improve working conditions and strengthen the capacity of healthcare centres to deal with cases.
The CCOO is calling for "staffing plans that ensure primary care needs are reliably met, strengthen workforce numbers and move towards accessible, safe and high-quality healthcare".
"It is not enough simply to fill posts on a temporary basis: we must tackle the underlying causes that make it difficult for specialists to join and remain in the Andalusian public health system, with a firm commitment to job security, improved working conditions and the strengthening of specialist healthcare training," the CCOO states.