HUS year 2024: Access to treatment and waiting times
We started 2024 with a tight budget framework that did not include funding for reducing the waiting lists. However, we managed to relieve the backlog during 2024, despite the challenging economic situation and the recruitment ban in the fall.
However, the waiting lists for assessment and treatment are still long in some specialties. Waiting times vary according to specialty.
Achievement of care needs assessment
At the end of the year, there were 37,784 persons waiting for a care needs assessment; 27% of them had been waiting for more than three months. Under the Health Care Act, a care needs assessment for a patient must be performed within three months of the hospital receiving the patient’s referral.
Analyzed by specialty, there were particularly many patients waiting more than three months in surgery and eye diseases.
Waiting times for surgical and other procedures
The number of patients waiting for access to surgery, procedures or day surgery remained high, but at the end of the year there were 1,492 fewer patients on the waiting lists who had waited for a long period of time than in the previous year. The total number of patients waiting for access to treatment was 34,358, of whom 6,741 had been waiting for access to treatment for more than six months.
At the end of the year, the number of patients waiting for access to surgery, procedures or day surgery was 24,241, of whom 5,382 (22.2%) had been waiting for access to treatment for more than six months. The largest groups of patients waiting for access to treatment were knee or hip replacements, cataract surgery, and groin, umbilical or incisional hernia operations.
The median waiting time for patients waiting for a procedure was 82 days and the median waiting time for all patients waiting for treatment was 69 days.
Challenges across the country – HUS ranks well in comparison
There are challenges in accessing specialized healthcare throughout the country. Compared to other wellbeing services counties providing specialized healthcare, HUS ranks high. Only one wellbeing services county has fewer patients who have exceeded the so-called treatment time guarantee, i.e. more than 180 days, when the number of patients on the waiting lists is proportioned to the population.
Updated: 04.04.2025