Waiting lists still very long in Hungarian hospitals
According to the National Health Insurance Fund Administration (Hungarian abbreviation NEAK), waiting lists in Hungarian hospitals were the longest in June. Furthermore, 27,666 patients were waiting for a surgery on December 1st. The institution published its newest data recently, which was summarized by Világgazdaság.
Shorter waiting lists still unbearable
To start with, NEAK’s system registers the patients who are put down for a surgery separately. However, this record is not an actual waiting list because these patients asked for a later surgery date than the earliest available given by the hospital. According to NEAK, 3,951 patients were on the list on December 1st, while 3,506 in November and 4,800 in September.
In fact, the waiting list for surgeries was
the longest in June, containing 28,816 names at the time.
Furthermore, one-third of the patients were waiting for cataract surgery. In addition, this rate is constant for the whole year. On December 1st there were 11,810 names on the waiting lists of ophthalmologies. In fact, the shortest waiting time – it lasted for only two days – was a cataract surgery at the Buda Hospital of the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God. Whereas, patients
had to wait for more than 310 days in the Bugát Pál Hospital in Gyöngyös.
Waiting lists are shorter than in June but still unbearable.
Clearly, 5,643 patients are waiting for hip- while 4,856 people for knee replacement surgery.
In addition, patients have to wait now 470 days for a spine surgery
and their list contains 93 names. Furthermore, 1905 patients need a cardiac catheterization, but the waiting time extends to one and a half months.
Longer waiting lists more choose private healthcare
According to Szinapszis Market Research and Consulting most patients choose private healthcare services because of the long waiting lists. Furthermore,
the total internal expenditure on healthcare is going to exceed 3,000 billion HUF (10 billion EUR) by 2021.
In fact, at the moment this sum barely reaches 2,400 billion HUF (8 billion EUR). Experts foretell a 4-5% yearly growth in case of private healthcare expenses. According to some estimates, Hungarian citizens spent 904 billion HUF (3 billion EUR) this year on private doctors. However, this sum will rise to 1,100 billion HUF (3,5 billion EUR) by 2021.
Source: vg.hu
