Up to 56 weeks

Waiting lists for operations are getting longer and longer

Only in an absolute emergency can things be done quickly.(Bild: stock.adobe.com - Kadmy )

Despite the efforts of hospitals, waiting times for operations have worsened once again compared to the previous year. We show you which complaints cause the longest delays. 

A little boy who suffers from breathing problems and has to wait a year for an urgently needed operation. Or an elderly lady who had to go through a two-year odyssey through the healthcare system due to knee problems and then had to trick herself into changing her place of residence in order to have an operation at all. These are just two of the many fates we have reported on. This prompted us to take a closer look at the waiting times for operations. On January 9, 2024, the "Krone" reported on the long waiting times for operations in the city's hospitals. What has changed in the meantime? Improvement? Not a thing! One year later, there is still a traffic jam on the waiting lists - even though the postponed operations should have been rescheduled long ago due to the pandemic. Waiting times of over eight months for an intervertebral disc operation or more than a year for a new knee joint are not uncommon (see chart).

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Stock Adobe)

Waiting a year for a new hip
Even for a new hip joint - which can cause a lot of pain - people wait over a year at the Donaustadt Clinic, for example. According to the Vienna Health Association, around 130,000 operations are carried out every year. They want to keep waiting times short and are trying to increase the attractiveness for specialists with various measures.

For ÖVP health spokesperson Ingrid Korosec, this is not enough: "It is a scandal that patients have to wait over a year for operations. Overworked staff finally need courageous decisions and no more excuses."