The Manacor Hospital refers more patients to the private hospital than Son Espases, Son Llàtzer and Inca combined

PalmNearly 30,000 patients in the Balearic Islands' public healthcare system received treatment in private facilities during 2024. Specifically, the Balearic Islands Health Service (IB-Salut) referred 29,141 people to private healthcare providers, according to official data published in the Official Gazette of the Parliament of the Balearic Islands (BOPIB) in written response to PS6: 25:2 for consultations and diagnostic tests, and 1,489 for surgical procedures. This volume is not due to a one-off occurrence, but rather to a structural trend that reinforces the importance of contracted services within the healthcare model to alleviate public waiting lists while private ones grow longer. The Balearic Islands is one of the autonomous communities with the highest rate of private insurance coverage, with over 400,000 policyholders. The public hospital that refers the most patients to private facilities for consultations and tests is the Manacor Hospital, with 11,178 outpatient referrals in a single year. It handles more patients than all the other hospitals on the island combined. It is followed by Can Misses Hospital in Ibiza (5,408), Inca Regional Hospital (5,279), Son Llàtzer Hospital (3,196), Mateu Orfila General Hospital in Maó (2,386), and Son Espases University Hospital (205). The reason for the high volume of referrals from Manacor is that the hospital, which opened in 2002, has experienced significant growth in the population it serves, making it necessary to refer patients to alleviate waiting lists. The hospital is currently undergoing an expansion. The other hospitals in Mallorca, to varying degrees, have greater resources to manage the pressure on their healthcare systems.

In the surgical field, Can Misses (581 procedures) and Son Llàtzer (558) lead in outsourcing, followed by the Inca Regional Hospital (142), the Mateu Orfila General Hospital (118), the Manacor Hospital (50), and the Son Espases University Hospital. The private center receiving the most patients overall is the Hospital de Levante in Portocristo, with 7,313 referrals (7,263 outpatient and 50 surgical). It is the main recipient of patients from the Balearic public system and benefits from the difficulties the Manacor Hospital faces in handling the entire workload.

Immediately following are the Policlínica Nuestra Señora del Rosario (Ibiza), which handles 5,990 patients (5,408 outpatients and 582 surgical procedures), and the Quirón Salud group, which receives 5,921 (5,645 outpatients and 276 surgical procedures). The difference between the two is minimal, and both handle a much higher volume than the other operators. However, it should be noted that the Ibiza center is a single facility, while Quirón Salud has several. Grupo Juaneda accounts for 3,167 referrals (2,587 outpatients and 580 surgical procedures), with a significant presence in General Surgery. Laser Clinic serves 3,915 patients, all linked to outpatient ophthalmology, and QUNUR (Nureduna's Quirón Salud Center) serves 448.

The ranking of major beneficiaries is as follows: Hospital de Levante leads the ranking; Policlínica Nuestra Señora del Rosario and Quirón Salud form the second largest group with nearly 6,000 patients each, and Grupo Juaneda is in third place, but with a strong presence in surgical procedures. These four entities account for the majority of public contracts.

The most benefited specialties

The breakdown by specialty shows how this transfer of activity is taking shape. Ophthalmology is the first major area outsourced, with 6,201 documented outpatient consultations: 3,915 at Láser Clínic and 2,286 at Quirón Salud, which constitute the bulk of outpatient referrals. The second major area is Radiodiagnosis, with 4,681 patients seen outside the public system for consultations and tests: 1,157 at Quirón Salud; 1,132 at Hospital de Levante; and 6 at Juaneda. Third is Otolaryngology, with 466 referrals at Hospital de Levante and 1,060 at Quirón Salud. Finally, among the specialties with the most affected patients is Dermatology, with a total of 1,059 referrals: 639 at Hospital de Levante and 420 at the Juaneda Group. In this last case, it should be noted that private dermatology consultations are saturated at unprecedented levels, to the point that appointments are being offered from July onwards and some specialists have their schedules completely closed.

The pattern is consistent. Public hospitals, with Manacor leading in outpatient volume and Can Misses and Son Llàtzer in surgery, steadily feed a private network that concentrates diagnostic tests, ophthalmology, dermatology, and a significant portion of scheduled surgery. Within this network, four players—Hospital de Levante, Policlínica Nuestra Señora del Rosario, Quirón Salud, and Grupo Juaneda—account for the majority of outsourced activity. Official figures do not include clinical data on the resolution of medical processes, but they do show a stable and substantial transfer of care. With 29,141 patients outsourced in a single year, contracting out services ceases to be a supplementary mechanism and becomes a central component of the system's ordinary operation. The volume absorbed by the main private hospital groups reflects a dependency that points to a progressive functional privatization of the Balearic public healthcare system.