Patience advised: extremely long waiting times in Hungarian healthcare sector
According to data shown on the National Hospital Directorate’s list, the number of those who are waiting for surgery exceeds 26,000. That’s only those who were waiting for more than 60 days.
The website’s list has twenty different treatments listed, and waiting time for half of these exceeds a hundred days. For five medical interventions, the national average waiting time manages to exceed two hundred days (as of the latest Saturday data).
Traumatic statistics
The most populated waiting line on the list is the one for knee surgery. This list winds up at the dizzying number of 11,300. Remember, these numbers only represent those who are already waited out their share of two months. Even so, out of this large group of people, 9,837 are in orthopedic care and 1,463 in traumatology.
The waiting time for these two categories is counted separately. In the former, the average waiting time, based on the last six months nationwide, is 263 days. This means that if a patient was added to the waiting list yesterday, on January 6th, for example, they can expect surgery around the end of September.
However, these numbers vary from region to region. If they subscribed to the list in the Western region of the country (which means Győr-Moson-Sopron, Vas, and Zala counties), the average waiting time already jumps up to a steep 430 days. That is, if a patient was added to the waiting list now, their expected knee replacement would be around March 10, 2025.
However, if the knee surgery is logged as being in traumatology, the process is much faster: 229 days nationally and only 407 days in the Western region.
The two ends
Based on the currently available lists and their calculated average waiting times from the last 6 months, the longest waiting time is for those who wish to undergo corneal surgery. According to the National Hospital Directorate’s data, this kind of interventions are only carried out at the Semmelweis University Clinical Center, marking the record average waiting time of 482 days. Meaning that patients who are added to the waiting list now may be scheduled for surgery in May 2025. There are currently around 350 people waiting for more than 60 days for a corneal surgery.
Overall, for the twenty conditions listed on the website, the average waiting time is about 130 days. Nose sinus surgery plays a significant role in the average waiting time. This, it seems, is a line that proceeds extremely fast. Here, no one waits more than sixty days, and on average, they are scheduled within 12 days. Without the nose sinus surgery, the national average waiting time would be over 140 days, approximately four and a half months.
How much longer?
The National Hospital Directorate’s website keeps track of waiting lists. Here, a total of 20 different treatments are listed, which at first may sound like a lot, but it’s not. Last year on the same website, there were 47 different interventions with their waiting lists published. The National Hospital Directorate did not comment on the decrease of the listed surgeries, writes 444.
This is one of the tricks used by the government to reduce the numbers on the waiting lists to make the situation seem lighter. Another well-used one is the way of them only listing those who were waiting for a brief two months, and showing them in the data only after this period.
This means the situation may be even worse than it seems now. The national waiting list for surgeries already equals that of a smaller Hungarian town like Jászberény. How much longer could the actual waiting list be?
As we wrote earlier, gratuity payments are still present in the Hungarian healthcare system, details HERE.
Also, we wrote before about Hungarian hospitals struggling with high debt, details HERE.
…just like in Canada…the difference is that usage of Health Care System is much lower in Canada than in Hungary…Hungarians are better off…
…This newborn waited 5 hours for a doctor. Experts say Ontario’s ER wait times have never been worse.
Markham, Ont., man says 2-week-old son wasn’t seen by triage nurse for an hour…
This was reported by CBC, Canada
Health care costs are high and there is never enough money for immediate care.
Socialized medicine vs. private practice.
Slower but free, faster but pay much more.
One can’t have their cake and eat it too.
All fine in Hungary, allegedly it’s worse, according to another commenter, in Canada?
It’s principally through cost to a Government to operate / function Health Care that “serves” provides services, just the basic’s to society, that these on-going rising COSTS place Governments, in a precarious position, the need of tax payers money to “feed” into -to service Health Care being Public or Private Services.
Health Care is a gargantuan COST outlay of a Governments budget.
How it is used – that’s another Dissertation – distribution & usage – it’s PRIORITIZATION.
This FACT look at history – the costings on a Government – will NOT reduce but continue to RISE.
The on-going development discoveries of Medicine, place it under the title of Medical Science, in the 21st century, will not be a FACTOR – that will play a major role in the reduction COST to the general public – to GOVERNMENTS in there need to provide Health Services.
How it is used, that’s another Dissertation – it’s distribution & usage.
Health Service Professionals – commencement of Surgeons/Doctors – right down through the vastness of layers that play ROLES in Health Services – medical, dental optical etc. etc etc – they are NOT going to COST less.
There positions – over-all, we know they NOW have been possible throughout History, are extremely comfortable renumerated PAID.
There DEMANDS – the “layers” of Health Care providers I refer in a previous paragraph, from the providing of Professional Medical Community/Society Health Services – there Pay Packets – they will not get SMALLER.
Cost on a Government – then Cost’s in-side the Health Care Services again using that word in Broad usage, the operation functionality – finding a balanced level playing field – DAUNTING.
We are LIVING longer lives but at what cost ???
Health Care Services provided to Society/Citizens – through the “layers” it covers, basic’s and the up-wards of needs of Health Care, should NOT be a “freebie” provided by a Government.
The “freebie” factor in percentage terms should be represented in miniscule – small in percentage representation, to the numbers of Society/Citizens – that fall under and have a need to use Government funded provided Health Care Services.
YES – I know we pay our taxes, but it should not be a “freebie” and proportioned FAIR & Reasonable that SHOULD and it’s needs – for the Health Care Services now – and into the future, a proportion payment made by the users.
marievontheresa – gives example the country of her residency, of the ‘Maple Leaf” and I join him or her maybe a bit of both haha, that the “Land Downunder” a new rich country, a Democracy – that FACTUALLY see’s the core of its 27 million population growing in Wealth, through a word Superannuation – the country of Australia still has a highly questionable – functioning Public Health System & Services, a country a Government – that continues to return HUGH surplus’s – in there Governmental Budget Sheet, but they STILL have MASS on-going finding that MIDDLE level Playing Field.
History teaches us this, that Life doesn’t get any cheaper.
My question I conclude this “Treatise” commentary with is – at what cost does life to live longer come ?
Anyone who thinks the health care system is great in Hungary should ask anyone with cancer age 80 and over. Fidesz won’t disclose it but you will not be provided with chemotherapy. Anyone who has reached that age is literally written off and left to die.