"High demand"

“Severe pain”: patient waits 2 years for surgery

At the Ordensklinikum Linz, a patient waits two years for an operation ...(Bild: Wenzel Markus)

A rheumatism patient (45) from Upper Austria suffers from severe pain and urgently needs an operation. Urgent from the point of view of the healthcare system means: in two years.

While many Austrians don't even know what they're doing on New Year's Eve, "Krone" reader Christian L. can already say exactly where he'll be on May 25, 2027 at 7 a.m. - namely at the Ordensklinikum Linz, where he will undergo what he considers an "urgent" operation sober.

The Upper Austrian has contacted us as part of our big reader appeal and is desperate. He writes: "I am 45 years old, suffer from rheumatism and this year in June I got an appointment at the Sisters of Mercy in Linz for an ankle fusion in May 2027. Despite extremely severe pain!"

Please wait and wait and wait and ...(Bild: zVg)

"Our employees are doing a great job"
How can that be? Why does the patient have to wait two years for a routine procedure? "There is a high demand for elective procedures at the Orthopaedics Department at the Ordensklinikum Linz from patients who want to be treated by us," explains the press officer.

The current increase in demand has been caused by shortfalls at other locations and is leading to longer waiting times for appointments and planning surgical procedures.

Sprecherin Ordensklinikum Linz

"The orthopaedics department at the Ordensklinikum Linz is fully operational. Our staff do a great job and our patients receive the highest level of medical care."

And the spokeswoman is right. The vast majority of nursing staff and doctors work around the clock for their patients, all over the country, but the healthcare system has been extremely starved in the past and is still being starved today. The victims are the staff and the sick.

Leseraufruf

Was haben Sie schon erlebt?

Weichen Sie längst auf teure Wahlärzte aus, weil Sie keine Zeit zu verlieren haben? Sind Sie mit den angebotenen Behandlungen (un)zufrieden? Wie viel zahlen Sie monatlich in das System der Krankenkassen ein – und bekommen Sie genug dafür? Wo muss das Gesundheitswesen dringend sparen und wo muss viel mehr Geld hineingepumpt werden? Wurden Sie Opfer einer falschen Behandlung, eines Kunstfehlers, oder wo wurden Sie sensationell gut versorgt? Was haben Sie erlebt mit Ärzten, Pflegern, der Rettung – gutes wie weniger gutes. 

Schreiben Sie uns, was Sie bewegt?

Mails an: [e-mail] Betreff: Gesundheit. Oder: Kronen Zeitung, Wien-Redaktion, Muthgasse 2, 1190 Wien.

Five weeks? No: six months!
Martin J. from Vienna has a similar story to tell about the irritating issue of waiting times: "My orthopaedic surgeon gave me a referral for an operation at the AKH for carpal tunnel syndrome. The appointment came in the post on September 10, for March 4, 2026. That's almost six months." And the patient adds: "On the website of the Vienna Health Association, which shows the waiting times for scheduled operations, you read five weeks. And not six months." That's how far apart wish and reality are.