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The numbers were better balanced for hospital waiting lists in the month of June 2024 showing a moderately positive result, but the good news only lasted for half a year, at least as far as Malaga province is concerned.
The data published this Wednesday corresponds to December 2024 and were not made public at the time. They make up a pretty negative picture as they show a worsening in each and every one of the key indicators, something that has not happened since 2023. The number of patients waiting for surgery or for their first consultation with a specialist is growing, but the average delay is also increasing, a situation that is replicated in the main hospitals across Malaga.
At the moment, and according to the Junta de Andalucía regional health ministry's (Consejería de Salud) own data, there are a total of 35,189 people in Malaga province waiting to undergo surgery, which is 1,600 more than in June last year. As if this were not enough, outside the waiting times established by decree (60, 90 or 180 days, depending on the type of surgery) there are 2,567 patients with overdue operations. Compared to last June that is 500 more patients, around 20% more. Historically this was one of the figures that most hindered the healthcare situation in Malaga and, although in the last reckoning it fell by 40%, in this latest report it has risen again.
Moreover, there are already almost 5,000 Malaga residents who have been waiting more than 365 days to be operated on, whether they are undergoing surgery within the decree or outside it. Furthermore, all this negative data s also reflected in the average number of days for patients waiting to undergo surgery as this has risen from 137 to 161 days, which also breaks the positive trend that began in June 2024.
In previous analyses, when waiting times for surgery went up, waiting times for outpatient consultations went down, and vice versa. This time this has not been the case, but in the wrong direction with both rising. In the second half of 2024 the results were positive on both indicators, now both are in the red. There are currently more than 205,000 people waiting for their initial outpatient consultation, 5,000 more than six months ago. This increase means that there are more than 122,000 patients waiting over 60 days for this first consultation, 15,000 more than in the last report.
With all these movements, the improvements achieved in June 2024 have been completely lost. Malaga residents still wait 132 days on average to be seen by a specialist, depending on the hospital, and that is 17 days longer than last year.
Hospital waiting lists are worsening
If these data are extrapolated to specific hospitals in the province the situation is similar, although not equally so in all of them. One of the most striking improvements last June was at the Regional Hospital in Malaga city, whose average waiting time for an operating theatre (whether outside or within the decree) had fallen from 239 to 208 days on average. In December 2024 that figure had risen again to 323 days.
Malaga city's Hospital Clínico had also felt this drop - from 96 to 92 - although in this case the negative figure was due to the accumulation of patients waiting for surgery with a time guarantee. This has now increased from 4,729 patients to 5,870, over 1,000 more patients. In the end this has meant that the average delay has increased from 56 to 62 days. The December report again bashes other indicators, as this hospital has seen the average delay increase from 92 to 109 days for surgery.
This is the same picture at the Costa del Sol and Axarquia hospitals. In the former, the number of patients waiting to be operated on remains the same, but the delay has increased from 117 days to 136. In the Axarquia area the average waiting time has also risen from 75 to 91 days.
In terms of outpatient consultations by hospital, the picture is similar. Last year the Regional managed to reduce the average waiting time from 140 to 97 days, but now it has risen again to 116 days. The Clínico had reduced it by considerably less, from 136 to 119 days on average, the same figure recorded six months later. One of the most negative figures for this indicator was at the Hospital Costa del Sol, which increased its average waiting time from 130 to 144 days in June. In December 2024, the average waiting time to see a specialist was no less than 171 days.
Regional ministry's latest figures
Despite the fact that the picture of the waiting lists in Malaga is clearly negative, the regional health ministry boasted on Wednesday about the results of its health guarantee plan, which was launched a year ago and which, according to the regional body, has resulted in a halving of the surgical waiting list for procedures guaranteed outside the deadline, "exactly 47.59%", stated regional health minister Rocío Hernández.
As a result, the regional ministry argues that the number of patients still waiting beyond the guaranteed deadline has gone from over 53,000 to fewer than 30,000 at regional level. This was stated using data from 7 March, but these figures have not yet been officially published. If we compare the numbers between December 2023 and December 2024, in Malaga province the number of people waiting to undergo surgery has gone from 31,974 to over 35,000 a year later. Also, the average waiting time has gone from 160 to 161 days and the number of patients waiting beyond the deadline has gone from 3,388 to 2,577. It is only in this last indicator where improvements have been noted from one year to the next, although in the last six months it has worsened again.
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