When I first moved to Spain, I thought the public healthcare system was paradise—free and seemingly very professional. But after living here for a while, I realized that the quality gap between hospitals can be enormous! I recently came across a report on hospital mortality rates from this List of Spanish Hospitals, and I felt it was essential to share it. This is especially important for those with elderly family members, children, or anyone needing a major surgery.
This report is based on medical data released by the Spanish Ministry of Health, and it excludes special cases like palliative care, so it has some reference value. Of course, a high mortality rate doesn’t necessarily mean a hospital is bad, as many top-tier hospitals treat the most critically ill patients, naturally leading to higher rates. However, if a hospital handles less complex cases but has an unusually high mortality rate, that’s a red flag we should be aware of.
List of Hospitals with High Mortality Rates
Based on data from Spanish hospital rankings and this Spanish hospital search tool, I’ve compiled a list of public hospitals with relatively high mortality rates that might be of concern. I want to emphasize again: this is just for reference and not a definitive ‘blacklist.’ Please approach this information rationally.
The table below shows the situation in some autonomous communities, highlighting hospitals with notably high mortality rates for common serious conditions like heart attacks, strokes, and pneumonia. You can check if a hospital near you is on the list:
| Autonomous Community | Hospitals with High Mortality Rates |
|---|
| Community of Madrid | Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón |
| Catalonia | Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron |
| Andalusia | Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Hospital Regional Universitario de Málaga |
| Valencian Community | Hospital Universitari i Politècnic La Fe, Hospital General Universitario de Alicante |
What Can We Do?
Don’t be too anxious after seeing this list. Firstly, for emergencies, the rule is always to go to the nearest hospital—saving a life is the priority. However, for non-urgent surgeries or treatments, you can absolutely do more research. For example, you can get a referral from your family doctor (GP) and then choose which specialist hospital to be referred to. The Spanish public system allows you to choose your hospital within certain limits. Additionally, ask friends for their experiences or post on forums to gather personal accounts. Sometimes, word-of-mouth is more valuable than cold, hard data. I hope everyone stays healthy, but if you ever need to go to the hospital, I hope you can find the most reliable one!
