Nearly 13,000 people were awaiting planned surgery in Vallès Oriental on 31 July, according to the latest figures from CatSalut, the Catalan Health Service. The 12,920 patients were on lists at the area's hospitals in Granollers, Mollet and Sant Celoni, meaning treatment remains pending after a clinician has decided an operation is needed.

For patients, the key measure is not only the number on the list but the time between that clinical decision and surgery. CatSalut publishes monthly figures by procedure, hospital and health area, allowing residents to track both the number of people waiting and average waiting times.

Reference times depend on clinical priority

CatSalut uses three reference timeframes for scheduled operations, based on clinical priority. These periods begin when a healthcare professional places a patient on the surgical waiting list, not when they first see a GP or specialist.

  • Preferential priority: 90 days.
  • Medium priority: 180 days.
  • Low priority: 365 days.

Some procedures, including certain cancer operations and other specified interventions, have separate maximum guaranteed deadlines.

Hospitals describe the list as stable

The hospitals in Vallès Oriental say the waiting-list situation is “stabilised” and that they are applying corrective measures.

Stability does not necessarily mean that the number of patients waiting, or the time they wait, has fallen. Future monthly CatSalut releases will show whether both measures decrease at the three hospitals.

On 15 September, Josep Roca, a patient at Hospital de Mollet, publicly described a wait approaching one year for treatment for a back injury. His account is an individual case and does not establish the overall performance of the hospital.

Residents awaiting an operation can check CatSalut's monthly waiting-list data for their hospital and procedure, including the average time patients still on the list have waited since being formally added.

Reported by catnoticias.es, CatNoticias.

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