Waiting Time for a First Specialist Appointment in Alicante Reaches 148 Days

Waiting lists are one of the major challenges facing public healthcare. Whether it's for a first specialist appointment or a diagnostic test, patients endure waiting times that often threaten to worsen their conditions.

A survey conducted by the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) reveals that patients in Alicante and the rest of the Valencian Community wait longer on average than in other autonomous communities to be attended by public healthcare.

For a first specialist appointment, the wait is 148 days, nearly five months. This figure exceeds the national average of 140 days. Diagnostic tests in Alicante also take longer on average than in the rest of the country. Patients must wait up to 109 days, 11 days more than in other communities.

By specialties, Ophthalmology has the longest waiting time, with 175 days. It is followed by Neurology (164 days), Traumatology (163 days), Pulmonology (156 days), and Dermatology (155 days).

Additionally, a fifth of users also complain that, on the day of their appointment, they had to wait a long time before being seen. "And other inconveniences, perhaps not as common but equally annoying, should not be overlooked, such as those who were given an inconvenient time or a hospital far from their home, as well as those whose family doctor took too long to refer them to a specialist," adds the OCU.

The organization highlights that "the enormous difference between the waiting times recorded in the survey and those provided by the Ministry of Health, based on data collected from the autonomous communities, is striking."

In this regard, the OCU urges an update of the information system on waiting lists to represent the reality as "faithfully as possible." "It should detail, for example, the situation of all specialties and the maximum number of possible surgical procedures, as well as account not only for waits for the first consultation but also for subsequent reviews," proposes the OCU.