Hungary hospital waiting lists getting shorter, but it’s still unbearable

The number of patients on public hospital waiting lists in Hungary has decreased by more than 40,000 over the last five years, the daily Magyar Hírlap said on Thursday.

Citing data from the National Health Insurance Fund Manager, the paper said

the number of patients on hospital waiting lists was 27,149 last month

compared with 70,000 in 2012.

Spinal surgery, knee and hip replacement surgeries have the longest waiting times, with patients having to wait an average 305 days for the latter.

Cataract surgery is the most frequent procedure on the list with 10,316 patients waiting an average 90 days in September. This waiting time, however, is down by one-third from 2013.

Waiting times for knee replacement surgery have gone down by 440 days over the past four years.

The paper added, however, that waiting times vary by hospital. Patients requiring spinal surgery or knee replacement have to wait over 560 days at the University of Pécs, while at the Békés County Central Hospital the procedures can be carried out immediately.

Also is a huge problem, there is a constant rise in the number of empty family doctor positions in the country. These empty positions are frequent mostly in the boonies of Hungary, where a family doctor is responsible for treating several smaller communities.

As we wrote last week, based on the latest data and statistics, Hungary is the 6th most unhealthy country in the world, read more details HERE.

Source: MTI