Wait-Lists for Non-Vital Surgical Procedures...

In several  European and  non-European countries it is not  possible  for  patients to  get  a (non-vital) surgical operation immediately or at a specific date that has been determined as optimal  by patient and doctor.   Rather,  there   is  a  waiting   time   to   be respected. As the table below shows, such waiting times are not  the  exception but  the  rule, and  a considerable part  of the population is affected.

The  average  waiting  time  can be substantial, as is the  case  for  cataract operations in Finland  (60 to 360 days)  or  for  orthopaedic operations in Great Britain  (165 days) or for plastic surgery  in Norway (246 days). In most of the countries that experience waiting  times  the  waiting  is organised in the  form of official waiting lists which are often made  transparent by internet publication.

Waiting  lists  can  be  regarded as a type  of (non- price)   rationing,  an   instrument  to   cope   with under-capacity  of  surgeons and/or  equipment.  In   a  public   health  system that offers free medical treatment an obvious explanation of waiting times is the lack of surgical capacity.

	Waiting- time	Population on waiting-lists	Cataract surgery	Orthopedic surgery	Plastic surgery
Australia	yes	0.9 %	73 days	53 days	24 days
Austria	no	–	–	–	–
Belgium	no	–	n.a.	–	–
Canada	yes	1.6 %	70 days	48 days	46 days
Denmark	yes	n.a.	184 days	n.a.	n.a.
Finland	yes	2.5 %	60 - 360 days	180 days	n.a.
France	no	–	–	–	–
Germany	no	–	–	–	–
Greece	yes	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
Ireland	yes	0.7 %	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
Italy	yes	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
Luxembourg	no	–	–	–	–
Netherlands	yes	0.9 %	112 days	98 days	168 days
New Zealand	yes	2.2 %	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
Norway	yes	0.9 %	139 days	160 days	246 days
Portugal	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
Spain	yes	0.4 %	59 days	66 days	63 days
Sweden	yes	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
Switzerland	no	–	–	–	–
UK	yes	2.1 %	190 days	165 days	113 days
US	no	–	–	–	–

Notes: The figures relate mainly to 2001.
For more detailed information on waiting time for medical treatment see www.cesifo.de/DICE.

Sources: www.cesifo.de/DICE;
OECD Health data 2002; World Health Report 2000.