HOSPITAL waiting lists have soared in Spain with 853,509 people needing surgery last December.
Figures from the Ministry of Health showed that the list had grown by 21,000 since June and an annual rise of 7,000 people.
Just over four million people are waiting to see a specialist.
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Average waiting times have reached 121 days for an operation and 102 days for a consultation.
Some 21.6% of patients are waiting more than six months, 1.3% down on December 2024 but 2% up on last June.
Dermatology, with 64 days, and Cardiac Surgery and Ophthalmology, both with 77 days, are the areas with the shortest average waiting times.
The longest average waiting time is for Plastic Surgery, with 269 days; followed by Neurosurgery, with 172 days and Angiology and Vascular Surgery with an average wait of 151 days.
The 11 processes that are monitored in this information system have an average waiting time of 93 days.
The average waiting time decreased in eight of the eleven processes, standing at 93 days.
There are 200,584 people waiting in Traumatology, 172,974 in Ophthalmology and 149,749 in General and Digestive Surgery- though all three areas have actually seen some of the most significant reductions compared with a year earlier.
The regions with the most patients waiting for surgery are Andalucia (199,950) and Catalunya(197,768), which account for 46% of the total.
Both regions also have the highest numbers of patients who take more than six months for an operation: 64,302 and 63,228, respectively- 69% of the national total.Â
The Basque Country (544), Madrid (654) and La Rioja (504) are the regions that have the fewest patients waiting for more than six months.
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