Lleida hospitals are facing long waits for first Ophthalmology and Traumatology consultations, according to a new study by the Metges de Catalunya medical union. The union said the average waiting time for these specialities was 125 days last December, above the 90-day benchmark for ordinary cases and 30 days for urgent cases.

Josep Maria Serra, vice-president of Metges de Catalunya, presented the study on Thursday using official Health Department data. He said Catalonia's public health system still has structural delays in access to surgery, diagnostic tests and specialist appointments, especially outside Barcelona.

In Lleida, the study also found an average wait of 89 days for an electromyogram and 79 days for a colonoscopy. For surgery, the Lleida plain and Pyrenees areas were among Catalonia's better performers, with the Pyrenees standing out in particular. The union said Lleida city hospitals have seen a positive evolution in surgical waiting times, although hip prosthesis surgery still had an average wait of 93 days, with 144 patients on the list at the end of last year.

The Health Department said the number of people overdue for external consultations has fallen compared with last year in Lleida. Serra also said surgical activity is being monitored through a unified surgical table because of renovation work at the Arnau de Vilanova hospital surgical block. That work will enter a new phase in June, with reduced activity and operations redirected to Santa Maria and Mi NovAliança hospitals.

Separately, more than 60 departments across 22 public and private Catalan hospitals have joined a Metges de Catalunya initiative. From Monday, doctors will refuse to carry out any assistance activity outside their ordinary and mandatory working hours. Xavier Lleonart, president of Metges de Catalunya, said administrations do not want to know anything about the union and that doctors are not willing to keep supporting the system at the cost of overexertion.

Lleonart said extra hours can account for up to 30 per cent of a doctor's working day. No Lleida hospitals have officially joined the initiative so far. Santiago Miguelsanz, the union's spokesperson at Santa Maria hospital, said signatures are being collected because staff are tired of the ministry's arrogance and its failure to attend conciliation meetings.