Waitlisted: It Can Take Half a Year for Patients to Be Operated On

The National Health Insurance Fund Manager (NEAK) has inputted the necessary information into its database, mfor.hu reports.

Last October, an article published by mfor.hu revealed that patients often have to wait years to undergo certain vital surgeries. They claimed to have based the article on publicly accessible data. Even so, NEAK protested, saying the journalists had abused the “transparency principle of available public information.”

In recent days, the database underwent a redesign and now the actual wait time is available alongside the “planned waiting list.”

According to the “actual waiting list,” the record is half a year based on data from the last six months. Another patient waited 195 days for a transcatheter heart valve implantation. However, a wait time of 606 days (maximum) can be expected for this procedure according to the health care institutions’ database.

For other interventions, the actual wait time is:

• 148 days (almost 5 months) for urologic intervention
• 4,5 months for major intestinal surgeries
• 94 days for hip replacement surgery
• 62 days for major extended spinal surgery

Right now, 9535 people are waiting for cataract surgery, 5312 for knee prosthesis surgery and 4036 for hip replacement surgery.

Featured Image: Kettős Mérce