Fitch Solutions Country Risk & Industry Research has published a report confirming that the Spain’s medical devices market will see consistent recovery and growth from 2022 and onwards. This growth will be largely felt in this sector, which “has been particularly affected by the coronavirus”. According to the report, the Covid-19 pandemic limited access to healthcare in Spain and this has led to an accumulation of healthcare procedures (especially surgeries), which has been postponed. 

This commentary is reflected in Fitch Solutions statistical data, which includes the estimated time for patients waiting for surgery. For example, the longest wait times observed by health departments was for plastic surgery (252 days), neurosurgery (197 days) and trauma (149 days), while wait times were shorter for heart surgery (81 days), ophthalmology (81 days) and dermatology (63 days).

The European Commission has recently pledged a budget of 382.7 million euros to help Spain recover from the impact of the virus. Funding is designated for a number of specific healthcare measures, such as hiring more medical staff or purchasing medical equipment, but also to non-healthcare areas aimed at promoting digital transformation. This will help to transform the Spain healthcare landscape post-Covid.