The government approved the financing of another 751 places of medicine in public universities

The Council of Ministers approved on Tuesday a Royal Decree governing the granting of up to 52 million euros to the Autonomous Communities to fund the creation of 751 medical degree places at public universities, representing an increase of 15 percent from the previous year. At a press conference, government spokesperson and Minister for Territorial Policy and Public Functions Isabel Rodriguez emphasized that the measure aims to “promote a long-term increase in the availability of medical workers to curb the shortage of medical workers in various specialties.” An executive spokesman assured that this shortfall is a “consequence” of a “long decline in the number of public MIR proposals between 2011 and 2018” coinciding with much of the legislature of Mariano Rajoy’s PP government. Following the no-confidence vote and Pedro Sánchez’s entry into the executive, a spokesman stated that they were pursuing “a policy of reversing these cuts with an increase in MIR positions, active retirements for some medical specialties, or the largest public job offer, up to 11,600 in the last call.” In any case, he indicated that the measure was “agreed” with the autonomous communities, which are “having jurisdiction in this area.” “With this strategy, we support the autonomous communities in such an important competition as health,” he stressed.