See Why Healthcare System of Spain Ranks in Top 10 Worldwide

See Why Healthcare System of Spain Ranks in Top 10 Worldwide

The Spanish healthcare system continues to be world class

A new study from the Healthcare Access and Quality Index (HAQ) shows that Spain is home to the eighth-best healthcare system in theworld. The study was published last week in the British medical journal The Lancet.

The study looked at the healthcare provisions available in 195 countries, measuring several factors related to mortality rates related to issues that shouldn’t be fatal if the patient is provided with proper medical care.

This included analysis of the death rates of 32 recognised illnesses and conditions between 1990 and 2015; along with records of any worldwide improvements.

The good news is that the healthcare systems of practically every country improved over time. There were only a few nations – particularly those where civil war has broken out – that saw a drop in standards.

Spain scored a total of 90 points out of 100, which put it in eighth place globally. Spain was ahead of Italy (89), France (88), Greece (87), Germany (86), the UK (85), and Portugal (85).

The country that took the number one spot was Andorra, which scored a total of 95 points. Iceland came in second with 94 points. Switzerland came in third with 92 points, while Sweden and Norway rounded out the top five countries.

13 of the top 15 countries were from western Europe. The only countries to break this monopoly were Australia in sixth, and Japan, which came in 11^th.

A rather sad statistic is that the average score for all 195 countries was the paltry score of 53.7 points. This number is still an improvement on the 40.7 points seen in 1990, but it is a sign that many countries out there still have an inadequate level of healthcare.

Even though 167 countries out of 195 have improved their healthcare performance, the gap between those that have and haven’t is getting wider. The difference between the top and the bottom country in 1990 was 62 points, while it’s 66 points today.

Spain earned the top score of 100 points for the treatment of diphtheria, tetanus and measles, along with 99 points for maternity and respiration treatment. Spain has plenty of room to improve in treating Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, which it scored 64 points for, Leukemia, which it scored 66 points for, and gallbladder disease, which it scored 74 points for.

Latest Survey puts Spain at Top of the Chart for Expat Healthcare and Social Life

Latest Survey puts Spain at Top of the Chart for Expat Healthcare and Social Life

If you’re an expat looking to find safety, healthcare, culture, and build a strong family and social life then it doesn’t get much better than Spain.

Spain and the Costa del Sol continue to draw

expats as its a great place to live

The latest Expat Explorer Survey from HSBC was published this week and it showed that Spain is considered to be one of the best destinations in the world for expats; at least as far as having an active social life and good quality healthcare goes.

The survey was taken by 21,950 people across 39 countries. According to these participants Spain did well in terms of property value and choice as it ranked in third place overall. Spain also did well in quality of life (coming second) and culture (coming third).

Even though Spain only came in 13^th overall the country still did well in the metrics that families and expats are more interested in; including safety, integration, making friends, and provide for the family. Spain did particularly well in how easy children find it to settle in to their new lives abroad.

This was the eighth annual HSBC Expat Explorer Survey and this year things seemed to favour the financial metrics. Singapore came in first because of their ability to provide expats with well-paying jobs. They also performed well in terms of safety and their scores in culture and integration improved over recent years.

Spain found itself let down thanks to the quality of schools and finance; ranking 26^th and 17^th respectively. It’s interesting that school quality was an issue given that many of the countries in the survey, such as Singapore, are known for doing everything they can to accommodate expats; so the quality of education would develop as a matter of this.

While there is a lot of choice on the Costa del Sol, many expats in Spain feel there are still some regions where there are very few British or international schools, which is why there is such a discrepancy. When it comes to finance many people are aware of the economic problems Spain has dealt with in recent years. Many are also aware of the recovery, which has really picked up steam this year.

The good news for expats is that Spain did above-average in the areas that will matter most to them. Spain is known for providing great healthcare, a welcoming culture that makes it easy to socialise and make friends, and overall a country filled with tolerant people that is easy to integrate into and has a low cost of living.

The areas that let Spain down were job security, entrepreneurship, wage growth and career progression. While these metrics may not be easily fixed, they are at least problems Spain can work on to improve.

The survey took the countries and broke each one into three different categories; Experience, economics and family. Spain may have come in 36^th out of 39 for Economics but it came in second for Experience and fourth for Family – presenting the largest divide between the categories seen with any nation.

The results send a clear message to the politicians of Spain; do something about the job market and the economy and you’ll build up the best country in the world to be an expat in.

To contrast the 13^th place of Spain, the UK came in 23^rd and France came in 29^th. In a disappointing and somewhat surprising move Italy came in 38^th; beating out only Brazil.