Ciudad Real: Two-thirds of health workers are women

The number of registered health professionals in the province rose above the three percent mark in 2023. Nurses and doctors lead one of the most feminized labor markets, with women accounting for more than two-thirds of workers. Ciudad Real closed last year with 9,903 toilets, 371 more than in 2022, representing a 3.89% increase, almost nine-tenths higher than the national average.

According to data published by the National Institute of Statistics last Tuesday, membership in the province of Ciudad Real is increasing in all health professions except for opticians, whose number is down barely one percent, and prosthetists, who maintain the same number of members as in 2022 (83).

In absolute terms, nursing is experiencing the largest growth (+201) compared to 2022 and, for the first time, exceeds the barrier of 4,000 registered professionals (4,080) in Ciudad Real. It must be remembered that with the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, health authorities were forced to reinforce their staff in both hospitals and primary care centres. Since then, the number of nurses and doctors has been gradually increasing year after year. In fact, medicine records the second largest increase in organs (+80), followed by physical therapy (+35).

In relative terms, the most notable increase in the number of members is in speech therapy (+13.4%), from 149 to 169, while the increase in psychiatrists, physiotherapists and nurses is more than five percent. Also rising, at a slower rate, are doctors, pharmacists, dentists, veterinarians, podiatrists and occupational therapists. Likewise, the National Research Institute report includes physicists, chemists and biologists, but only provides regional data and the number of members in Castilla-La Mancha remaining.

The gender gap.

Of the more than 9,900 health professionals registered in Ciudad Real in 2023, 67.3%, more than two-thirds, are women. The number of workers in the sector is 6,668, only half of whom practice the nursing profession. In fact, all healthcare groups have more women than men, with the exception of veterinarians and medicine, where the gender gap is increasingly narrowing (1,448 compared to 1,394). Nurses make up 82% of the profession, and there are twice as many pharmacists and opticians. Furthermore, male representation in speech therapists is limited to six specialists compared to 163 female members. Something similar happens with occupational therapists, where there are only 15 men compared to 157 women.

By autonomous regions, Asturias, Aragon, Madrid, the Basque Country, Navarra and Cantabria, in that order, lead the rankings in terms of the number of doctors per 100,000 inhabitants, and are located above 700, between 732 and 703. The lowest segment is occupied, also in descending order, by Castilla-La Mancha, Ceuta and Melilla, less than 500, while the national average is 620.

The ranking of the number of nurses per 100,000 inhabitants, according to data published by the National Institute of Statistics, is led by Cantabria, Navarra, the Basque Country, Extremadura, Asturias and the Community of Madrid, where it exceeds 800, between a range of 905.18 to 805. .41. At the bottom are the Balearic Islands, Galicia and Murcia, all less than 600, between 597 and 480. Castilla-La Mancha is located in the middle zone with 641 professionals.