In relation to the latest data published by the Ministry of Health – Information System on waiting lists in the National Health System, SISLE – which show an increase in waiting lists – surgical and specialist consultations in the last year -, the Institute for the Development and Integration of Healthcare—IDIS Foundation—considers that measuring waiting lists at six-month intervals prevents reacting quickly to a problem as relevant as delays in patient care and, furthermore, wants to influence , once again, in the need to take urgent measures by the central government to put an end to these figures in our country, increasing the productivity of the National Health System (SNS) itself and counting on all available resources, through concertations with the private care sector, when necessary. Likewise, he makes the following points:
Waiting lists are one of the main problems that our National Health System has. The latest figures from the Ministry of Health (June 2024) showed that patients on the surgical waiting list have increased by 3.4% in the last year – 848,340 patients in June 2024 vs 819,964 in June 2023. Of them, 20.4% wait more than six months. In addition, it is observed that the average surgical waiting time is 121 days – 112 in June 2023 – which indicates that there is an increase of 9 days compared to a year ago; There are also some Autonomous Communities in which the waiting list in June 2024 is up to 169 days, figures that, without a doubt, are far from reasonable.
In the case of consultations with specialists, the waits are 94 days at the national level – 87 in June 2023 – which shows that they continue to increase compared to last year. Likewise, it is notable that some regions have up to 135 days of delay in June 2024. Of the 83.79 patients per 1,000 inhabitants who appear in the report on the waiting list for consultation, 54.6% had to wait more than 60 days for a consultation with their specialist. These data once again demonstrate the need to undertake reforms that provide sustainability to the health system and guarantee its accessibility, efficiency and equity.
The increase in surgical waiting lists in the public system in the last year —819,000 vs. 848,000 patients— shows that the system does not improve its results and the waiting lists for specialist consultations also increase by more than 300,000 patients, going from 3 .67 million in June 2023 to 3.96 million in June 2024. The data shows that the National Health System is not capable of absorbing current patient demands. In fact, if this continues, the current model could collapse, so it is necessary to carry out actions that improve productivity in the SNS and promote greater collaboration between the public and private sectors through concerts, when the situation requires it.
The willingness of private healthcare to collaborate with the National Health System is absolute and has expressed this on different occasions. Now, more than ever, the private healthcare sector must be considered a strategic partner to care for patients with the best conditions of access and equity. In this sense, the sector has 57% of the hospitals and 32% of the beds located in our country. In addition, it carries out 32.6% of surgical interventions, records 22.6% of discharges and attends to 25.2% of emergencies.
In conclusion, the IDIS Foundation considers it key that there is political will and consensus to carry out the reforms that our health system needs to adapt it to the current demands of patients. It also highlights the need to have a comprehensive health system that considers all available resources to achieve the Health that we all desire, something that has been defended since the origin of the IDIS Foundation.
About IDIS
The IDIS Foundation is a non-profit entity that aims to highlight the contribution of private healthcare to the healthcare of our country and promote the improvement of the health of all Spaniards. To this end, it encourages and develops all private healthcare initiatives aimed at achieving an optimal level of healthcare and healthcare for all sectors of the population.
Currently, its Board of Trustees is made up of 34 groups involved in private healthcare in our country: AEGON, Catalan Association of Health Entities (ACES), Analyze, Asisa, Axa, Ballesol, Caser, Cigna, Clariane, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Divina Seguros, DKV, DomusVi, Farmaindustria, FENIN, GenesisCare, Grupo Hospitalario Recoletas, Grupo Valdeluz, Catholic Hospitals of Madrid, HM Hospitales, Hospital Perpetuo Socorro, Hospiten, IMED Hospitales, IMQ, MAPFRE, Occident, Orden Hospitalaria San Juan de Dios, Quirónsalud, Ribera Salud, Sanitas, SegurCaixa Adeslas, Teladoc Health, Unilabs and Vithas.