The average waiting time to undergo a surgical intervention in the Andalusian public health system is currently 137 days , above the national average of 121 days but almost 20 percent lower than in June 2020.
Thus It follows from the report of the Information System on waiting lists in the National Health System (SNS) that the Ministry of Health has published with data related to the first semester of 2021, and that the counselor of the Presidency, Public Administration and Interior and spokesperson for the Andalusian Government, Elias Bendodo , at the press conference after the weekly meeting of the Governing Council.
According to the Ministry report, the 121 days of the average waiting time in the Spanish public health system for a surgical intervention is much lower than the 170 days of a year before , and is similar to the figures provided in 2019, a pre-pandemic year , when they stood at 115 waiting days in the first half of 2020 and 121 in the second half of 2020. This report thus shows a downward
trend in all the data, coinciding with the end of the care pressure caused in the SNS by the coronavirus pandemic. coronavirus, thanks to the arrival of vaccines against Covid-19.
In general, the data is positive, and continues the downward trend already seen in the second half of 2020, since the waiting lists have been reduced by 30,346 people in Spain, standing at 661,162 currently.In days, the reduction has been 49 less; while the percentage of patients who have been on the waiting list for more than six months is reduced by almost 15 points, from 33.8 percent to 18.9 percent.
Average
rate
The average rate of waiting patients is 14.45 per 1,000 inhabitants . Extremadura is the community with the largest population on the waiting list, with 21,924 patients on the lists, so it has an average population on the waiting list of 21.42 inhabitants per thousand inhabitants.
They are followed by Cantabria (11,357 patients on lists, 20.09 inhab/1,000; Asturias (19,629 waiting patients, 19.6 inhab/1,000); Cataluna (141,164 waiting, 19 inhab/1,000), Aragon (23,465 waiting, 17 .84 inhab/1,000); La Rioja (5,491 waiting, 17.50 inhab/1,000); Castilla-La Mancha (32,558 waiting patients, 16.80 inhab/1,000); Castilla y Leon (37,319 waiting patients, 16 .24 inhabitants/1,000), Galicia (40,316 waiting, 15.4 inhabitants/1,000) and Murcia (21,887 patients, 14.71 inhabitants/1,000).Andalucia is
below the average(113,380 patients waiting, 13.89 inhab/1,000 inhab); Canary Islands (27,499 waiting, 13.34 inhabitants/1,000); Madrid (75,426, 11.35 inhabitants/1,000); Balearic Islands (12,856, 11.15 inhabitants/1,000); Valencian Community (50,375 waiting, 10.64 inhabitants/1,000); Navarra (6,376 waiting, 9.93 inhabitants/1,000); Basque Country (19,327 8.67 inhabitants/1,000); Ceuta (612 8.16 inhabitants/1,000) and Melilla (201, 2.71 inhabitants/1,000).
In terms of waiting days , the Autonomous Communities that exceed the average of four months are Castilla-La Mancha with 189 days -more than six months-, Aragon with 166 days, Catalonia with 152 days, Andalusia with 137 days, Extremadura with 130 days. , Castilla y Leon with 129 days, the Canary Islands and Cantabria, both with 126 days, and the Balearic Islands with 125.
Below the average waiting days are the Valencian Community (98 days), Asturias (85 days), Ceuta (83 days), Murcia (82 days), Madrid (75 days), Navarra and La Rioja (71 days each). ), Galicia (70 days); Basque Country (62 days) and Melilla (37 days).
Patients waiting for a consultation
The number of patients waiting for a first consultation per 1,000 inhabitants is, on average in Spain, 62 patients , well above the 46.45 patients per 1,000 inhabitants last year. Once again, the data shows the pre-pandemic situation, since in 2019 it was 61 patients per thousand inhabitants.
However, the average waiting time has dropped in a year, going from 115 days in June 2020 to an average of 75 days in the first half of 2021. The percentage of patients with an appointment for more than sixty days has also decreased in the last year, 12 months ago it was 52.7 percent of the list, it now sits at 38.2 percent.
Regarding specialties, the average being 75 days, Traumatology stands out with 87 days, followed by Urology with 85 days and Neurology with 80 days; On the contrary, Gynecology patients have an average waiting time for a consultation of 45 days and those for General and Digestive Surgery of 50 days.
surgical waiting list
With regard to Andalusia, the spokesperson for the Board, Elias Bendodo, has pointed out that it is the first autonomous community in the reduction of the average surgical waiting time and external consultations with respect to 2018, according to data from the Ministry of Health
Thus, it has detailed that last September there were 123,339 patients on the surgical waiting list in Andalusia, which represents a reduction of 22 percent compared to December 2018 and almost 20% compared to June 2020, reducing the average delay in 66 days.
However, the spokesman counselor has acknowledged that “he has been able to increase a little” the waiting list for external consultations, something that has been linked to the pandemic.
He has also indicated that “referrals from Primary Care to consultations ofspecialists have increased by 18% in 2021 compared to 2019, and 50% when compared to the same period in 2020″.
In addition, the Andalusian Government has “removed the penalty for referral” , according to Elias Bendodo. , who has thus highlighted that, “now, when a Primary doctor understands that a patient must be seen by a specialist, he refers him without fear that this will be detrimental to fulfilling his professional objectives”.
