Mallorca waiting lists: Spain may start the clock at a doctor’s order
On Mallorca, Spain, a proposed national rule would start counting a patient’s waiting time on the day a doctor orders care. Spain’s Ministry of Health has called an extraordinary meeting of the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System for Friday to discuss the draft. The aim is to make waiting-list figures more consistent and show more clearly how long patients wait for treatment.
When the wait would begin
Under the proposal, a patient could be added to the waiting-list register up to five calendar days after the doctor’s order. That delay would not change the date from which the wait is counted.
The figures would cover hospital outpatient appointments, diagnostic and therapeutic tests, and operations. For the first time, they would also measure delays in primary care. For patients on Mallorca, the change would mean the same starting point for waiting-time figures as elsewhere in Spain, if the rules are approved.
Funding also on the agenda
The council will also discuss how to distribute 50,268,707 euros among Spain’s autonomous communities and the National Institute for Health Management. The money is intended in part for training health professionals and for blood, bone marrow and organ donation programmes.
Other proposed funding covers work on rare and neurodegenerative diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The council will consider three million euros for health protection and prevention, seven million euros for monitoring systems covering areas including cancer and mental health, and five million euros for monitoring systems and equipment for plasma donation units.
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com