The Clínica Universidad de Navarra is the highest rated private hospital in Spain by the country's medical specialists, according to the comparative analysis result from a survey carried out among 281 doctors by the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU). In the general ranking of hospitals, both public and private, the Clinic is in eighth place, behind seven public hospitals: Hospital Clínic (Barcelona), Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron (Barcelona), Hospital Universitario La Paz ( Madrid), Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre ( Madrid), Hospital Universitari i Politècnic La Fe (Valencia), Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal (Madrid) and Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón (Madrid). The Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge (L'Hospitalet) and the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau (Barcelona), both publicly owned, are in the top ten. The national consumer organization has published these data in the latest edition of its magazine"OCU Salud", corresponding to the month of April.

By specialties

Furthermore, in the classification broken down by specialties, the Clínica Universidad de Navarra appears as the best rated center in Otorhinolaryngology, leading this discipline for the second consecutive time in the OCU ranking. The Pamplona hospital is also among the top ten in six other medical specialties: Cardiology, Pneumology, Neurology, Ophthalmology, Oncology and Urology. This is highlighted by the OCU itself in its publication, where it points out: "Almost all the hospitals that occupy the top 10 positions in each specialization program are public. In the area of oncology this patron saint is repeated. One of the few private centers in this ranking is the Clínica Universidad de Navarra, which is also among the best in 6 other specialties".

Specifically, regarding the first place obtained in Otorhinolaryngology, the consumer organization states that the Clinic"has maintained its leadership over time. All the respondents who have given their opinion about it, without exception, highlight the skill and specialization of the medical team".

Second edition of the survey

This ranking, recently published, is the second edition of a similar survey already carried out by the OCU in 2005. The current survey has submitted to the evaluation of 281 Spanish medical specialists which hospitals in the country offer the best care to their patients, according to the organization. The OCU is a private, non-profit organization, which is financed by the fees of its 300,000 current members "and is independent of economic and commercial interests," according to the organization itself. Its main objectives lie inpromote and defending the interests of consumers, guiding them in their choices as consumers, working to help them solve their consumer problems and assert their fundamental rights as consumers," it stresses.

The OCU has submitted the best qualified Spanish hospitals in a total of 13 different specialties to the evaluation of almost 300 specialists. The survey questioned doctors about which hospitals in the country "would provide the best healthcare for a patient with a very serious and complex problem". The organization also warns that the results were weighted "to adjust for the influence that some factors such as the specialization program of the respondents, their working relationship with the hospital or geographical proximity may have on the answers".

The dissemination of the results obtained by specialties is sample on the organization's website, as well as in its latest issue of the OCU Salud magazine, in the form of tables indicating the reputation index, in which the issue of points obtained by each hospital in relation to the total score for that particular area is shown.