- The university hospitals of Torrevieja and Vinalopó add just 32 and 38 days of delay respectively, four times less than the average for the region, which rises to 120 days of waiting
- Both centers have a complete portfolio of services with specialties such as cardiac surgery, vascular, thoracic or maxillofacial surgery, which avoid referrals of patients with complex cases to other hospitals further away.
Once again, the average waiting time for an intervention in the public hospitals managed by the Ribera healthcare group in the Valencian Community they are the lowest in the entire region. He Torrevieja University Hospital adds an average delay for a surgical intervention of 32 days, a figure four times lower than the average, located at 120 days, according to data made public by the Ministry of Health itself. Also, the Vinalopó University Hospital, also managed by Ribera, once again ranks as the second health department in the Community with the least average surgical delay, with an average of 38 days.
The Ministry of Health has published a comparison with the delay data of each of the public hospitals in the Valencian Community, and in it, the centers managed by Ribera provide the best results, that is, the lowest delay data in community. And it is precisely these waiting times for health concessions that, once again, lower the Ministry's average in the global calculation, and allow us to improve the results of all times; without the data from the sanitary concessions, the global average of 120 days would be much higher.
The health concessions, as reflected in the reports of the Generalitat Audit Office, are characterized by having fewer waiting lists than directly managed centers, greater satisfaction of professionals and patients, and also fewer referrals to other centers, according to official data from the Syndicate's report. The Hospital de La Ribera, which returned to direct public management two years ago, has gone from 57 days in March 2018 under Ribera's management to 105 days in the latest Health balance, doubling the time on the waiting list that left the Ribera group.
Is official data which reflect an average time, expressed in days, among all patients pending intervention. This calculation includes all surgical specialties, including those of reference. In the case of the hospitals managed by the Ribera group, it should be remembered that Torrevieja and Vinalopó have a complete portfolio of services, with super specialties that prevent referrals of patients with complex cases to other hospitals further away. This is the case of cardiac surgery, vascular, thoracic or maxillofacial surgery.
These data are provided to the Ministry by the hospitals on a monthly basis. In the case of centers with a concession model, there is also the figure of the Commissioner and his work team, representatives of the Ministry in the hospital itself, whose function is to ensure the proper functioning of the center.
Average delay by specialties
At the University Hospital of Torrevieja, the average surgical wait is 32 days. By specialties, the average wait is 4 days in general and digestive surgery, 20 days for maxillofacial surgery, 43 days for orthopedic and trauma surgery and 46 days for plastic surgery, 20 days for vascular surgery, 24 days for gynecology, 36 days for ophthalmology, 22 for otorhinolaryngology and 34 for urology, among others.
At the Vinalopó University Hospital, the average surgical wait is 35 days. By specialties, the average wait is 40 days in general surgery, 27 days for maxillofacial surgery, 32 days for traumatology, 28 days for plastic surgery, 8 days for thoracic surgery, 30 days for vascular surgery, 24 days for dermatology, 23 days for gynecology, 38 days for ophthalmology, 24 days for otorhinolaryngology, 50 days for urology, and 41 days for cardiac surgery.
