The average waiting time for a surgical intervention is almost 97 days
The average time on the surgical waiting list in hospitals in the Murcian Health Service (SMS) network decreased in February by seven days compared to the previous year, according to the latest data updated to February 2022. Specifically, the average waiting time for a surgical intervention it stands at 96.74 days and therefore continues below 100. This decrease has been achieved despite the increase in the demand for care, with 5,539 more patients than in February 2021.
All surgical specialties are located in an average waiting time below 150 days established by Decree 25/2006, of March 31, which guarantees the maximum time of access to the benefits of the public health system of the Region of Murcia.
THE NUMBERS
-
5,539
more patients attended in February by the Murcian Health Service compared to the same month of the previous year. -
22
less days of waiting are recorded for an external consultation. -
18,824
more diagnostic tests were requested in February compared to the same month in 2021.
Thus, of the 14 existing surgical specialties, 12 reduce their waiting times, some with very significant decreases, such as cardiac surgery, which goes from 74.15 days to 37.52 in 2022, and neurosurgery, which drops from 126.22 days to 69.12. The average time of patients waiting to be operated on is below 150 days in the nine hospitals in the Region of Murcia, and in six of them it is less than 100 days.
external consultations
Regarding external consultations, the year-on-year decrease in the average waiting time for the first consultations of hospital specialties continues. Thus, it goes from 116.39 days in February 2021 to 94.42 as a general average in February 2022.
In February of this year, according to the same sources, there are 22 fewer days of waiting for an external consultation, and this despite an extraordinary increase in demand, which has gone from 51,914 patients waiting in February 2021 to 102,750 patients in February 2022, that is, 50,836 more patients. In the same period last year, 55,600 patients were treated, while in 2022 91,524 were treated, which means 35,924 more patients.
According to the department of the counselor Juan José Pedreño, in some cases there are significant decreases, among which the Santa Lucía de Cartagena hospital stands out, which reduces its overall waiting time by 24 days, the Rafael Méndez hospital, which reduces delays by 27 days, and the Los Arcos hospital, which reduces the waiting time by 95 days.
Regarding diagnostic techniques, in general terms, most of the tests have an average wait of less than the 30 days required by regional regulations. However, there is a slight global increase in the average wait, which goes from 24 days in 2021 to 33 in February 2022, and whose origin lies in the increase in demand for diagnostic techniques experienced in February 2022. Thus, this year 22,616 more tests have been requested than in the same period last year and 18,824 more tests have been carried out than in February 2021.
At the beginning of 2020, the delays for a surgical intervention and for a first consultation with the specialist doctor skyrocketed by 50%, and more than 23,000 patients did not even have an assigned date for their appointment. In addition, the maximum terms provided by the Administration itself were blown up, so that the number of surgeries in which the 150-day waiting period is exceeded has increased by 125%. Likewise, the impact of the closure of operating rooms as a result of the pandemic was also reflected in the latest available statistics: if at the end of 2019 there were 2,827 patients waiting more than 150 days for an operation, now there are 6,384 people in this situation. The increase was 125%.
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