Malaga province residents wait 8.7 days on average for primary care appointments
The waiting time at Costa del Sol health centres is over ten days
The average waiting time to access an appointment in primary care in Malaga province is 8.7 days. Costa del Sol residents have to wait even longer (10.95 days), while the Antequera district inhabitants wait for about 4.21 days.
This data comes from a report former healthcare professionals have compiled with the aim of "denouncing the worrying deterioration in the health system."
In other parts of the province, the waiting times are as follows: 9.30 days in the Guadalhorce Valley, 5.60 days in Ronda and 6.25 days in the Axarquía district.
More than one fifth of people never get an appointment
One in five patients report not getting an appointment at the time of requesting it. The delay for 85 per cent of patients is greater than primary care recommendations, which state that the waiting time between requesting an appointment and going to one should not be more than 48 hours.
According to the authors of the study, these prolonged waits "reduce accessibility, increase patient safety risks, threaten continuity of care and lead to overcrowding in emergency departments".
According to the authors of the study, these prolonged waits "reduce accessibility, increase patient safety r
isks, threaten continuity of care and lead to overcrowding in emergency departments."
This is the second study of its kind. The number of observations has tripled compared with the December report.
"It is difficult to understand and unacceptable how, in the same health centre and sometimes even on the same day, waiting times of one day coexist with delays of up to 15 days or even no appointments available. This can only happen if appointments suddenly appear that had previously been hidden, meaning that a patient who requests at the right moment can get a same-day or next-day appointment, while another has to wait two or even three weeks. There must be transparency and access to data to understand where these appointments come from and why they were not previously available," the authors say.
Both studies confirm the existence of "unacceptable delays" and a "lack of respect for the public". At the same time, the studies highlight "the mistreatment of professionals in the workplace".
Furthermore, they point out that it is important to consider that all of this entails an economic cost "much higher than that which would result from a strong, accessible, universal and longitudinal primary care system".
The regional government says waiting times are much less
In response, the Andalusian regional government (Junta) told SUR that the study's data is false. "We do not know where they obtained the data they present, but in no case does it reflect reality," the response says.
According to the Junta, "the average waiting time for a GP appointment in the Antequera district is 1.53 days".
On 4 March, the Junta's spokesperson in Malaga Patricia Navarro said that the average waiting time in the province of Malaga is under three days, 2.6 days to be precise.
This timeframe is in line with the Andalusian average of 2.3 days, which the Junta attributes to "improvements in internal processes, the modernisation of administrative management and the reinforcement of professional staff".
According to the Junta, the new primary care booking system makes sure users receive attention in under 72 hours. Navarro believes that the Andalusian health service manages 100 per cent of appointment requests, either by phone or in person.
The Junta's spokesperson also stated that the Junta is currently recruiting more professionals in various parts of the province.
