Date Published: 26/04/2021
ARCHIVED - Waiting times for non-Covid medical consultations reach 4 months in Murcia
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
The pandemic has brought about an 81 per cent rise in average waiting times
The disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic in hospitals in the Region of Murcia has dramatically affected the waiting lists for treatment and operations not related to Covid, and although progress was made in reducing the lists last summer, the second, third and fourth waves of contagion have produced more delays in non-urgent appointments.
When the virus first reached Spain in March 2020 almost all non-urgent hospital activity came to an abrupt halt, and now, over a year later, there are long waiting lists for outpatient appointments in all specialities, especially those awaiting their initial consultations. According to data compiled by the SMS regional health service in Murcia, in February the average waiting time had risen to 116 days, or almost four months, an increase of 52 days (or 81 per cent) in comparison with the same month last year.
By way of example, patients awaiting consultations in Ophthalmology have seen waiting times lengthen from 39 to 63 days on average, while in Rheumatology and Dermatology the intervals have increased from 63 to 142 days and 65 to 183 days respectively. Those awaiting a consultation in Anaesthesia and Pain Management units are now being obliged to wait for well over a year, the average being calculated at 404 days as opposed to 235 in February 2020.
However, the situation varies from one health administration area to another, and is most extreme in and around Lorca and the Mar Menor. At the Rafael Méndez hospital in Lorca the average wait is 220 days following a rise of over 100 per cent, and at Los Arcos in San Javier the figure has risen from 78 days to 191.
Average waits are reported to be 121 days in Cartagena and 91 days in the Altiplano (Yecla and Jumilla in the north of the Region of Murcia), while at the Arrixaca and Morales Meseguer hospitals in Murcia the average wait for appointments has actually become shorter. In these health areas patients are waiting for between 20 and 25 days on average, highlighting the discrepancies in terms of resources and infrastructures between the city of Murcia and other parts of the Region.
It should also be borne in mind, though, that family doctors in and around the regional capital have been sending fewer patients for specialist consultations, and that many visits are being substituted by telephone consultations. This is illustrated by the fact that there are 45 per cent fewer people in the Region currently on waiting lists for initial consultations (51,914 as opposed to 94,333), plus another 20,000 or so still waiting for their appointments to be confirmed.
Average waiting times for non-urgent surgery have also increased but less dramatically, rising from 75 to 104 days, while for diagnostic tests the figure has remained almost unchanged at 24 days.
Of course, the objective of the health service in Murcia is to shorten all waiting times as soon and as significantly as possible, but at the same time it is inevitable at present that the ability to achieve this will depend to a very large extent on how the pandemic and the immunization campaign develop over the next few months.