> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://barna.news/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Pay alone will not retain Catalan doctors, Trilla says - URL: https://barna.news/pay-alone-will-not-retain-catalan/ - Published: 2026-10-17T09:49:48.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-17T10:15:05.000Z - Description: Antoni Trilla says affordable housing, reliable transport, professional autonomy and properly equipped workplaces are needed alongside pay to keep doctors working in Catalonia. - Author: Barna.News - Tags: health Pay rises alone will not keep doctors in Catalonia, epidemiologist Antoni Trilla said in an interview published on Saturday 17 October, arguing that housing costs, transport and working conditions determine whether trained clinicians remain in the region. Trilla, head of Internal Medicine and Epidemiology at Barcelona's Hospital Clínic, made the comments as he retires from teaching and from his role as dean of the University of Barcelona's Faculty of Medicine. For doctors who cannot afford to live near their workplace, he said, lower-cost housing further away must be matched by transport that enables them to reach the city where they work. The issue affects hospitals and primary-care services seeking to retain staff trained in Catalonia. Trilla said the region has a broad and diverse health system, but that it can only remain attractive if professionals have decent conditions both inside and outside work. ## Housing and mobility are part of staff retention In the [interview](https://naciodigital.cat/societat/antoni-trilla-epidemioleg-pagar-mes-als-metges-catalans-no-seria-suficient-per-retenir-el-talent.html?ref=barna.news), Trilla rejected the idea that high salaries by themselves would resolve the problem. He said doctors also need the capacity to organise and carry out their work in the way they judge necessary. > “Even paying a lot would not be enough, because in the long run you will still be stressed if you do not have the ability to do things as you think they should be done.” He identified two practical pressures outside the workplace: access to decent housing or affordable rent, and transport for those who live further from the hospital or health centre where they are employed. Trilla added that retaining every graduate is neither realistic nor necessarily appropriate. Some people who come to Catalonia to study medicine may legitimately choose to return to their home area or another country because their family is there, he said. --- ## Tools and autonomy ranked above salary Trilla referred to a survey carried out by the Col·legi de Metges de Barcelona, Barcelona's professional medical association, in which respondents were asked about their priorities. According to his account of the findings, doctors placed the technology and tools needed to do their jobs effectively first, professional autonomy second and salary third. - **First:** access to the necessary technology and clinical tools. - **Second:** professional autonomy in how work is organised. - **Third:** salary. He said healthcare services need to give professionals more scope to organise themselves, a lesson he drew from the COVID-19 pandemic. Spain's first coronavirus state of alarm began on 14 March 2020 and led to almost two months of lockdown. Trilla described a structural weakness exposed by the pandemic: limited capacity to absorb extraordinary demand when services are already operating at full capacity. He said hospitals also moved away from rigid procedures during the crisis as teams made decisions suited to their local circumstances. After more than 30 years in teaching, Trilla also called for greater investment in medical education, including clinical simulation equipment and more clinical teaching staff. He said publicly funded, affordable tuition does not remove the high cost of training doctors. For doctors considering a post in Catalonia, Trilla's assessment is that an advertised salary is only one part of the offer: the availability of housing, the journey to work, workplace equipment and control over clinical practice also shape whether they stay. --- *Reported by Col·legi de Metges de Barcelona, wma.comb.es, naciodigital.cat.* --- ### Related on Barna.News - [Childhood Myopia Triples Aged 8–12 in Catalonia](https://barna.news/childhood-myopia-triples-aged-812-in/) - [Sant Pau specialists challenge obesity stigma](https://barna.news/sant-pau-specialists-challenge-obesity/) - [Barcelona to lead study on flu to pneumonia](https://barna.news/barcelona-to-lead-study-on-flu-to/) - [New Resources for Families on Teen Mental Health](https://barna.news/new-resources-for-families-on-teen/)