[Hungarian primary care: facts, problems and expectations]

Primary care is a pivotal part of the health care system. While in the 1990's it was considered a success story, nowadays it is a crisis sector. This paper aims to discover the reasons behind this, evaluating the human resources as well. The age distribution of family physicians is presented and the input and output of residency programmes (vocational training) and elements of the undergraduate education and governmental efforts for improvement are discussed. Based on national data, the components of financing and primary care provision are presented, as well as laboratory and radiological investigations and relevant expenditures are displayed. Fundamental and conceptional changes are needed in the whole health care system. New and innovative structures of primary care provision are required, besides appropriate financing, without uniformity. The problems of human resources could be solved with appropriate financing, wider professional competences and restructuring the undergraduate education. Orv Hetil. 2026; 167(26): 1018-1026.