State health service equally fails to respond (in time specified) to 81.5% of cancer cases
The maximum response time was exceeded in around 92% of cardiology appointments in the second half of 2023, with more than 23,448 users waiting for their first appointment at the end of this period.
According to the monitoring of waiting times in the country’s health service (SNS), just released by the Health Regulatory Authority (ERS), in the second half of 2023, 19,642 first cardiology consultations were carried out in public hospitals, an increase of 0.3% compared to the same period in 2022.
During this period, “the Maximum Guaranteed Response Times (TMRG) were exceeded in 91.8% of cardiology consultations carried out“.
At the end of the second half of last year, 23,448 patients were waiting for their first cardiology appointment, an increase of 52.2% compared to the same period the previous year – 86.7% of whom were waiting longer than the TMRG.
In turn, there were 16,207 first consultations for suspected or confirmed oncological diseases, all of which took place in public hospitals.
However, ERS pointed out that “the evolution of the number of oncological consultations carried out in public hospitals in the second half of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022 was not assessed, as in the second half of 2022 the Electronic Health Record in the Integrated Access Management System (SER-SIGA) was not yet in the implementation phase”.
TMRGs were exceeded in 61.7% of consultations carried out and 10,775 users were waiting at the end of the year for their first consultation with a suspected or confirmed oncological disease.
As far as waiting patients are concerned, maximum response times were exceeded in 81.5% of cases.
ERS also announced that in the second half of 2023, 589,125 first speciality consultations were carried out at the request of Primary Health Care (PHC) – a decrease of 2.6% compared to the same period last year, but this figure does not include cardiology consultations or consultations with suspected or confirmed oncological disease.
In this case, time limits were exceeded in more than 56% of consultations.
The number of users waiting for their first appointment grew by 33.8% on 31 December 2023, reaching 778,640.
As for consultations at protocol providers, “in the second half of 2023, 33,563 first hospital speciality consultations were carried out – not including cardiology consultations or consultations with suspected or confirmed oncological disease”.
Maximum response times were exceeded in 30% of the consultations carried out.
Patients waiting for their first appointment totalled 27,055, 54.5% of whom were waiting longer than the maximum response times.
In public sector hospitals, 253,267 scheduled surgeries were carried out, excluding cardiology and oncology surgeries, which corresponds to a drop of 0.4%.
Around 14.6% of users were subject to waiting times longer than the TMRG.
At the end of 2023, 185,444 users were on the waiting list for surgery in other specialities, a decrease of 1.9% in the number of patients waiting.
There were also 29,562 oncology programme surgeries in public hospitals, 0.1% more than in the second half of 2022, with 7,282 people waiting for an oncology programme surgery at the end of the year (+5.2%).
Public hospitals performed 5.% more scheduled surgeries for heart disease, with a total of 4,329.
More than 2,900 patients were waiting for heart surgery, a 1% increase in the waiting list.
At the protocol hospitals, 8,782 scheduled surgeries were carried out, 75 of them in oncology.
At destination hospitals, “through the use of a transfer note or surgery voucher”, 12,253 scheduled surgeries were carried out, not including cardiology and oncology.
LUSA
