Catalan hospitals are planning organizational measures to counteract a possible decrease in activity due to the campaign Ni un minut més , in which numerous specialists have refused to perform care activities beyond their regular working hours, demanding labor improvements. Metges de Catalunya (MC) attributes a significant increase in the surgical waiting list in Catalonia to this campaign, launched on June 1, while the Department of Health downplays this impression, arguing that the study period is too short to draw conclusions.
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According to MC, a total of 258 medical services – with a special impact on anesthesiology and resuscitation – from 45 public and private hospitals – 60% of the centers in Catalonia – have joined the campaign to abandon the so-called peonadas , the care activity that exceeds the regular and mandatory working hours and is additionally compensated. Regarding primary care, 54 centers support the initiative, which aims to highlight that the public health system largely relies on the voluntary activity of doctors. At the same time, MC demands an improvement in the working and care conditions of physicians.
Extraordinary activity accounts for around 15% of the total and is paid separately
In this context of conflict, hospitals are planning organizational measures for the coming months to prevent the reduction of complementary activity from impacting waiting lists by the end of the year, according to La Vanguardia from sources at the Servei Català de la Salut.
An analysis of Health data carried out by MC highlights that last July, 33,936 surgical interventions were performed in Catalonia, 2,940 (8%) fewer than in the same month last year. The surgical waiting list stood at 225,334 people, 4,576 more (2.1%) than at the end of July 2025. According to the union, these figures constitute a first sign of the effect of their campaign. If the increase in July 2025 was only 0.2% compared to 2024, this year it has multiplied almost 11 times, the union calculates. “The health system has normalized for too long that doctors work beyond their hours to sustain an activity that cannot be handled with the available staff and resources,” said MC Secretary General Xavier Lleonart.
Unlike surgical activity, the possible impact of the medical protest does not affect diagnostic tests. Although 86,163 tests were performed in July, 6.6% less than last year, the number of patients waiting decreased by 3.1%, a decline similar to that recorded in the previous year.
CatSalut admits that the decrease in surgical activity observed in July “may be partially related to the campaign Ni un minut més ,” but specifies that the extra activity, which represents around 15% of the total and essentially serves to reduce waiting lists, usually corresponds to operations or tests of lower complexity. “Higher complexity, urgent, or oncological activity is scheduled within regular hours and is not affected by this campaign.”
According to CatSalut, the July snapshot presented by MC, with an 8% decrease in surgical activity, is too partial. “If we analyze the first seven months of the year, 250,677 interventions have been performed, compared to 257,311 in the same period of 2025: 2.6% less.” A difference that already existed before the campaign: accumulated activity in May was 2.8% lower than in the first five months of 2025.
On the other hand, it warns that the nearly 11-fold increase in the waiting list in July 2026 compared to 2025 is mathematically correct but is practically identical to that recorded in 2024. “These data show that the evolution of activity responds to various factors and that a longer time series is necessary to assess the specific impact of the campaign,” concludes Salut.
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Salut tempers the medical union’s threats
While the Department of Health insists on “recognizing the work and effort of health professionals to respond daily to a high care demand,” and proposes to continue with the shared goal of “improving accessibility, increasing the system’s response, and progressively reducing waiting lists and times,” the medical union threatens to escalate the confrontation if there is no improvement in their working and care conditions. “We will escalate the conflict, and the impact will be very significant because the last quarter of the year concentrates most of the care and surgical activity,” says Xavier Lleonart. “It is not about harming patients but making it visible that the system cannot continue functioning thanks to the permanent overexertion of professionals,” he clarifies.
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