jackytoo

The number of People waiting for operations has increased dramatically as has the waiting times. In a separate article some say they have been waiting more than a year. Malaga Doctors say the provinces figures are massaged...including my relative who is an eye specialist and has had his hours cut.

http://sociedad.elpais.com/sociedad/...html?rel=rosEP

Stats broken down by province at the end of report.

olivefarmer

Well I have gone into the system for a surgical procedure.

I have nothing so far but praise for the system. Swift diagnosis, courteous and caring staff throughout. Then only a month for next appointment where a comprehensive battery of tests were performed all within two hours at the local medical centre including Rayo X, Heart, blood tests. In less than a month I go to see the anaethatist and then wait for the appointment in Granada. It all seems very well organised and crucially all on a computer. I have a family member in the Uk who went through the same process and it took nearly a year from diagnosis to operation.

The proof of the pudding will be how long I have to wait before the actual op. If I live through it I will post! (This from a person generally unimpressed by most processes Spanish!)

Lynn R

If we're all supposed to take fright at this and hightail it back to the UK (those few forum members who apparently still live in Spain, that is), it's unlikely to work as waiting lists are increasing there too. "In a separate article some say they have been waiting more than a year", you say. In June 2012, the number of people in the UK who had been waiting for over a year was 3,500.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/he...l-figures.html

This year's waiting lists figures are at a 5-year high, with a quarter of a million more patients joining the waiting lists during the past year.


http://www.theguardian.com/society/2...-waiting-lists

And waiting times in A&E are now at their highest level for nine years:-

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-st...s-8643028.html

Dick Dasterdly

Fortunately the UK is still in a position to improve staffing levels and pay them more than double what they get in Spain where despite their poor wages and conditions staff are still being laid off.

Porth

Go to the Salud in the Old Town in Javea and where staff salaries have been cut by they say 30%. What commitment do these guys now have to patients?

Of course money is not everything but if it does not come in the door at the same levels as before you might be excused for saying tant pis.

jackytoo

Well, I thought I was providing a bit of useful information Didn't really want to infuriate people and get them googling for "what about the UK then" stories. Why are some so afraid of finding out the truth Or are they afraid that many of the guest readers may get to know that it's not always shangrila

jackytoo

Here is a personal story of a woman waiting for an eye procedure.

http://sociedad.elpais.com/sociedad/...html?rel=rosEP

I wonder if these Spaniards are making it up!!

jackytoo

Also this one from Málaga...Salud reports a "small" increase in waiting times. However, goes on to say that Unions and professionals are "suspicious" of the figures and suspect waiting times are much longer.

http://www.diariosur.es/20130721/loc...307210040.html

agoreira

And have been in Madrid recently recruiting Spanish nurses to work in UK for double the money they could have earnt at home, assuming they could get a job that is.

steviedeluxe

Since teamUk are in ful swing (they must really have a horrible life in the uk, the amount of time they devote here) perhaps they'd like to tell us the Spanish equivalent of the 1200 deaths in the Staffordshire scandal? Maybe they are right, and the resident posters are wrong, and the Spanish health system really is worse? But it does seem again that the kneejerk knocking sentiment is driving them again.

jackytoo

At least a few of us are on topic...Waiting lists in Spain...geddit

HBG

What a strange thread? I'm not an expert but the Spanish system is much the same as the English system, no better and no worse.

So we've suddenly got a disgruntled returnee and someone that doesn't like Spain hopping about with daft statistics that are meaningless.

I think it might be the vino.

Lynn R

If they're in a position to improve staffing levels, why are they doing just the opposite?

http://www.nursingtimes.net/home/cli...062495.article

Dick Dasterdly

That's his old chestnut Jacky he keeps digging up in desperation as a last resort, despite the fact that the public enquiry into the affair started all of three years ago.

Dick Dasterdly

Even with decreased staffing levels they're still under nothing like the same pressure as the Spanish hospitals which looks increasingly on the verge of breaking point and no longer sustainable every time I see them.

I would hate to be reliant on the Spanish state system for the next ten years or so the way things are going.
I think a shedful of money or damned good and expensive insurance will be the order of the day for years to come for any expats moving down now, though it seems most of them have already got the message judging by the recent figures.