ARCHIVED - Waiting time for operations falls to 98 days in Murcia region
Waiting times to see a consultant, however, have increased
The national Ministry of Health has published data relating to waiting times for both surgery and to see a consultant, and in the Region of Murcia the data contains both good and bad news according to the OCU (Organization of Consumers and Users), which complains that even though the waiting time has been reduced in the last year, that patients are still having to wait too long to see a specialist or undergo surgery.
The average waiting time to undergo a surgical intervention in the public health service of the Region of Murcia is currently 98 days, which is lower than the national average (148 days) and 20 days lower than that it was in December 2019.
The current waiting time for surgery in Spain has dropped to 148 days compared to pre-pandemic levels when patients had to wait 121 days on average for an operation.
The OCU say that 27 per cent of patients have been waiting for surgery for more than six months, compared to 20 per cent in December 2019.
The timeline varies considerably throughout Spain, with Castilla-La Mancha coming out worst at 268 days. This is in stark contrast with Asturias, which has a surgery wait time of just 60 days, closely followed by the Basque Country at 68 days.
Overall, average waiting times for a first consultation with a specialist have also reduced considerably, from 116 to 99 days. However, the OCU has criticised that this figure is still far from the 88-day wait period pre-Covid.
By autonomous communities, patients in Catalonia and Aragon are waiting the longest to see a specialist, at 152 and 147 days respectively, while the Basque Country (30 days) and Asturias (37) once again have the shortest average waiting periods.
In the Region of Murcia the waiting period to see a specialist has increased from the 61 days of December 2019 to 72.