More and more patients

Months of waiting for an appointment at a diabetes outpatient clinic

The diabetes drug Ozempic is often misused for weight loss.(Bild: Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

"Odyssey for diabetics: it takes 26th pharmacy to get medication" - it's headlines like this in the Krone that upset sufferers and are also heard in politics. Now there are answers to a parliamentary question about how long diabetes patients wait for an appointment in outpatient clinics.

SPÖ health spokesman Peter Binder wanted to know from health officer Christine Haberlander (ÖVP) how long diabetes patients have to wait for an appointment in the outpatient clinics provided for this purpose. He has now received the written answer, which is available to the "Krone".

It states that around 130,000 people live with diabetes in Upper Austria. Around 44,500 are completely unaware of their illness. In addition, around 60,000 Upper Austrians suffer from prediabetes.

Different waiting times
There are 23 diabetes outpatient clinics for adults, children and adolescents with the disease. In many places, waiting times have increased in recent years.

In some regions, diabetics are already waiting three to four months for an appointment at an outpatient clinic.

SPÖ-Gesundheitssprecher Peter Binder

In Kirchdorf, for example, new patients have to wait three to six months, in Grieskirchen and at the Barmherzige Brüder in Linz four months each. In Bad Ischl it is only two weeks.