In Israel in 2010, you could have an appointment with a neurologist within 10 days, and today you will have to wait more than a month – and a quarter of Israelis will wait almost two months for the important examination.
The Ministry of Health decided to make a comprehensive and detailed report on the waiting times for specialist physicians at the HMOs in Israel, and the data are collected from the four HMOs – Clalit, Maccabi, Meuchedet and Leumi – and their clinics throughout the country. Waiting time continues to grow and in less than a decade, waiting time to a specialist doctor in some cases doubled or even tripled.
The data present the median waiting times – that is, not the average waiting time, but a figure that is often close to it and represents the length of time that at least half of the people waited. For example, in 2010 at least half of the patients had to wait four days for an ENT, but at least half of the patients had to wait at least a week, and a quarter had to wait 17 days before seeing the doctor. Similarly, in 2010 the median waiting time for a cardiologist was 11 days, and now it has increased to 15 days – but a quarter of patients are required to wait much longer than 39 days.
The longest median waiting period is for an endocrinologist, gastroenterologist, and a nephrologist: Half of the patients who wish to see these doctors will wait about three months for an appointment, and one quarter of the patients will have to wait six months and even more.
Moreover, it is estimated – even based on previous similar reports – that in this area too, the public health situation in the center is better than its situation in the periphery, and that the data on waiting times in the periphery are even more serious.
The waiting time for specialists has increased in almost all fields of medicine except for hematology, and it is estimated that one of the reasons for this is the breakthroughs in the field of treating leukemia; from an incurable disease with a very short life expectancy to a long-term controlled disease.
According to the Ministry of Health, the reason for the disturbing prolongation of waiting times is budgetary, or more specifically, the ratio between the budget and the size of the population and changes in the composition of the population.
According to the ministry, in these years the budget of the Ministry of Health did not increase proportionately in line with the natural growth of Israel’s population. In addition, the needs of the patients vary, as the proportion of the elderly in the population increases, and on average they are more ill and in need of more treatment.
Thus, according to Health Ministry officials, the services received by the patients have been compromised – although the quality of doctors in Israel is considered one of the best among the developed countries, infant mortality is one of the lowest in the world and a basket of drugs is viewed as among the best.
According to the findings of the report, the Ministry of Health is planning to set up a team to formulate a solution to the problem and lead a national program to shorten waiting periods.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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One Response
“the budget of the Ministry of Health did not increase proportionately in line with the natural growth of Israel’s population” What a ridiculous conclusion. The reason there is such a long waiting time is because specialists can make a better living outside of Israel. So there is a shortage. That is the reason the whole medical system in Israel is in crises. Pay the doctors more and more will stay. I recently found out that a doctor is only paid once in three months for seeing a patient. That means that if he sees the patient more than once in three months, he is not paid for the visit!