Dr Manuel J de la Torre Gutiérrez, General Director and Founder

I belong to a family with a deep-rooted tradition in the healthcare world. My great-great-grandfather, my grandfather and my father, have set the pace, which my brother and I have followed. The world of medicine has always appealed to me, brought about by the family atmosphere and the satisfaction of helping others in such a fundamental issue as health.

 

Twenty-six years ago, after a hectic professional career, with the ups and downs necessary to discover which commitment I actually wanted to make to society, I decided to found Equipo de la Torre.

 

The idea was to create a professional independent, multidisciplinary medical and health team, capable of providing differential value to patients. Each of us has extensive knowledge and experience in his or her area, but we all share the same principles and values, the same way of understanding medicine. This is the essence behind the Group we have become, a group with the independence necessary to face the challenges that remain at the world’s forefront of technology and technique in the complex world of Neurosurgery. This feeling prompted me to take the leap and is what I am most proud of today, along with my service as a Neurosurgeon at His Majesty the King’s house.

 

Aspects as important as investment and dedication to research and development, the commitment to the latest technology and our facilities, among others, are part of our commitment to the patient. We carry it in our DNA. What we do is not a job per se; it is pure dedication. We are passionate about what we do or, if you like, we do what we are passionate about. And I say this with the utmost honesty, and with all due respect to other professions, that when they turn the light off and go home, they can disconnect. In our case, you never get to turn off the light, because when you finish surgery and go home, the memory of the patient comes home with you. You think about how he or she is coping after surgery and if it will go to plan. You live with a permanent tension, should the phone ring.

 

We are passionate about what we do or, if you like, we do what we are passionate about.

 

Sometimes we are pushed to our limits, tasked with fixing what nobody dares anymore, and seeking the best possible result… Not in vain our service is a benchmark, not only at a national level but also internationally, since we receive patients from all over the world and usually from a medical viewpoint, we get “the worst of the worst”, patients with complications, who have already been operated on once or even several times… We cannot disconnect, at any time of the day. We always near a phone, even on holidays. The team at Equipo de la Torre are well aware of this way of understanding patient service.

 

We know that being a family business, 100% Spanish capital, in a world of giants such as the current health sector, may seem challenging or even naive, but time has proved us right. The flexibility and capacity to adapt and incorporate new technologies and developments are invaluable in any sector, but in ours much more so.

 

Medicine is advancing rapidly, and our specialisation and experience are prompting us to keep up with the future of Neurosurgery.

 

We are doctors and entrepreneurs who want to develop our profession by seeking excellence, and I believe that we have found the right formula: We work in large health groups centres, but not for them. We want to maintain our spirit and our way of working, with utmost dedication and absolute independence..

 

We are committed to equipment and technological improvement reinvestment strategy, regardless of the country’s economic situation and the policies of the various large groups and entities in the health sector.

 

A few years ago we incorporated our Advanced Oral Health Unit into the Group, operated by my son, Dr Manuel V de la Torre, and his team, young and experienced people with a high level of training and an evident vision of what quality dentistry should be today. Their success reflects that good work is rewarded, and patients do not want to gamble with their health.

 

In a world as competitive and commercialised as the dental sector, playing by other rules where professional ethics and deontology are paramount has become a differential , when it should be the raison d’être of any profession linked to the health world.

 

Today, with all the means we have at our disposal in the field of communication and advertising, I can say, with great pride, that 80% of our new patients in both neurosurgery and dentistry are referred by other patients. Only those of us who are dedicated to health care know that this is only possible if we are honest with ourselves and fully committed to knowledge and our patients.