The Hungarian healthcare system faces critically long waiting lists, and here’s what you should know about them.
According to the State Secretary of Health, the length of waiting lists has become a political product. He added that this will soon come to an end as there’s an observably significant reduction. The State Secretary is currently quite satisfied with the healthcare statistics, but we found that there are medical treatments for which one has to wait for 6 years and 9 months. Now, we’re offering you an in-depth look into the current situation of the Hungarian healthcare industry.
Low productivity, long waiting list
At the end of last year, there were 41,500 insured individuals on waiting lists, and 23,000 of them had appointments beyond 60 days.
The issue of waiting lists has been a recurring problem for almost twenty years now. One would expect that the worst-performing institutions would be trying desperately to remove themselves from the bottom of the lists, but that’s not the case. In the last six months, there were thirteen hospitals where they performed fewer than 100 knee replacement surgeries in half a year. The same is true for hip replacement surgeries.
The difference is even more shocking when compared with the hidden success story of Hungarian healthcare: in recent times, most cataract surgery waiting lists have disappeared, going from long years to only a few months.
High debts and costy procedures
The success of the cataract surgeries might be surprising because the three interventions analysed in our article have a common point of needing a high-value device to be implanted into the patient. According to hospital management experts, this significantly lengthens the waiting lists.
The second reason identified is the financial constraint, meaning the difficulty in procuring high-value prosthetics due to the indebtedness of hospitals. The debt load of hospitals and lack of budget puts enormous pressure on institutions not to invest in these devices and thus increase their unpaid bills.
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- Patience advised: extremely long waiting times in Hungarian healthcare sector, details HERE.
- Time to save for private care? Hungarian state pulling out of healthcare, details HERE.
Lack of financial motivation
As a third reason, we identified the impact of gratitude money (hálapénz). For patients, this was quite significant, especially in orthopedics, where doctors used to receive substantial amounts of additional payments. The elimination of these informal payments caused a significant drop in their income, even if their legal salaries increased. Now, they attempt to compensate for these losses from private practice, reducing the number of potential specialists in the public sector.
Staff shortages
Major prosthetic surgeries are extremely complex interventions, requiring the involvement of several different healthcare professionals. According to valaszonline.hu, it’s not just the specialists that are missing, but other staff too. There is a significant shortage of operating room nurses, surgical assistants, and even patient transporters. If any part of the system breaks down, it affects the waiting lists.
Overall healthcare situation
In many places, surgical departments have been discontinued, leading patients with minor surgeries to concentrate in large centers. Therefore, waiting lists may grow even if large hospitals perform more surgeries than before. Lists would likely shorten if performance-based bonuses were allowed for the entire team. Of course, waiting times do not grow indefinitely. Patients can also opt for private surgery. It’s also a way to shorten the state waiting list.
Hungarians need more Football and sports stadiums, health care is not important….said the Viktator
The “Infamous” 45th former President of the United States of America – Donald J. Trump, his on-gping ‘Song of Praise” for the Leader of the People of Hungary – Victor Orban, reiterating in the last (3) three days, a leader such is Orban of a country, that he PRIORITIZES – the People firstly then the country.
This is the CRAP, that through individuals such as Trump, that in Hungary, in Europe, in country’s Governed under Democracy, inclusive of the European Union, is being “feed” out, and is, continues getting WRONGFULLY “mouthed off” being knowingly absolutely FALSE.
The subject of this article – as a Government, under Victor Orban should be ASHAMED.
The entirety of the Public Health system in Hungary is “hanging” on a cliff edge, nears, sooner than later, a deepening cataclysmic collapse.
I guess I was lucky when I had my urgent cardiovascular surgery in public hospital after only 6 months of waiting. Unfortunately, I am not rich enough for private surgery.
I am gratefull for the amazing work Hungarian surgeons and other medical staff did in the public surgical hospital and gave me a chance to live a few more decades longer than I likely would have without the surgery. I would be a really happy tax payer if the tax money was used more on the daily needs of ordinary peopple and less on propaganda and political ego boosting (lavish stadiums etc.). What does it say about the decision makers when you have beatiful moden stadiums but at the same time public hospitals are literally crumbling apart. Duct tape was being used to fix doors and windows in the surgical hospital locating just a few kilometers from the shiny new stadium.
I spoke with a few young surgical doctor interns as they spoke good English. Every single one of them told that their near future plan is to move abroad or to work at private clinic due to declining conditions in public hospitals. Salary was not their motivation. It was about not wanting to spend more time of their career than necessary in poor working conditions in outdated public hospital premises. Future does noot look bright for the public healthcare, and its all to blame the decision makers who have forgotten the ordinary citizens’ needs.
Its moving towards the ultimate right wing dream – unlucky poor peopple can die young in the future as they can’t afford to buy proper private healtcare. Wealthier succesfull and well connected peopple are well taken care off. Just like it was 100 years ago.
Moving forward, not backwards?