Spain proposes new regulation to standardize healthcare waiting list measurements

The Spanish Ministry of Health has opened a public hearing for a royal decree aimed at regulating the Information System for Waiting Lists within the National Health System. The proposed regulation seeks to replace the 2003 framework to homogenize computing criteria across all autonomous communities and eliminate previous issues regarding data comparability.

Key provisions include strict time limits for administrative processing. In hospital settings, patients must be included in the official census within five calendar days of a medical or surgical indication, regardless of whether appointment slots are currently available. The decree also prohibits the use of parallel lists or unofficial registries to prevent distortions in demand quantification.

For the first time, primary care services—including family medicine, pediatrics, and nursing—will be subject to state-level delay controls. The measurement will begin from the moment a patient requests an appointment. However, the reform faces political challenges; during a recent Interterritorial Council of the National Health System meeting, several autonomous communities, including those governed by the People's Party and Castilla-La Mancha, rejected the proposal. Support for the measure came from the Basque Country, Catalonia, Asturias, and Navarra.