article_detail

If you need an operation through the public health system in Alicante province, the hospital closest to you could make a very significant difference to how long you wait. New data published by the Department of Health this July shows the surgical waiting list has grown by 8.5% in six months, with close to 30,000 patients now waiting for procedures and an average wait of nearly 100 days.

 

The gap between the best and worst performing hospitals is striking. Vinalopó Hospital currently has the shortest average wait in the province at just 44 days. At the other end of the scale, Alicante General Hospital sits at 145 days, more than three times as long. Sant Joan d'Alacant follows at 118 days, and Elche General at 116.

 

For those in areas served by smaller or more regional centres, the picture is considerably better. Torrevieja averages 45 days, Alcoi 51, and Marina Baixa Hospital in Vila Joiosa 52. Some of those hospitals have also cut their waiting times significantly in the past six months: Torrevieja reduced its average by 25 days, Elche General by 21.

 

The most concerning figures surround Alicante General. The hospital alone accounts for nearly half of all new patients added to the provincial waiting list over the past six months, a total of 1,092 extra people. It now holds three in every ten of all surgical patients in the province, and 54.5% of its waiting list patients have already been waiting more than six months. By contrast, that figure is just 2.4% in Torrevieja and 0.5% in Vinalopó.

 

Across the province as a whole, more than 10,200 patients have been waiting over six months, roughly 35% of the total. The fastest-growing category in relative terms is the 91 to 180-day bracket, which has increased by 35%, adding more than 1,300 people.

 

The areas seeing the biggest overall increases in waiting lists are Vega Baja Orihuela, up 37%, Vinalopó, up nearly 21%, and Dénia, which has added 391 patients to reach 2,604 in total.

 

The figures point to a system under strain, and for the 1 in 3 patients at Alicante General who have already been waiting more than six months, the pressure is anything but abstract.

 

 

Image: Anna Shvets/Pexels