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Hungary healthcare surgical waiting list reforms

Updated 1 time since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-09-22 04:51 UTC → 2026-09-27 14:58 UTC · added removed

The Hungarian Ministry of Health has introduced is implementing a strategic action plan to address rising hospital waiting lists. The proposal, which aims to maximize surgical capacity through increased afternoon and weekend throughput, seeks to reduce inpatient hospital waiting times to lists, aiming for a maximum of six months for inpatient care and outpatient times to two months for outpatient services by the end of 2027. To support this, the government has allocated intends to increase healthcare funding by 500 billion forints toward healthcare capacity in 2027 compared to 2026 levels. A specific 10 billion forint program is scheduled to launch in 2026, initially targeting long wait times for cataract surgeries and hip and knee replacements. This initiative will fund new medical teams and expand surgical availability to include afternoons, nights, and weekends. Financial incentives for medical staff will be introduced, with rewards partially tied to patient satisfaction and professional wages. quality indicators. Capacity expansion efforts are already progressing at Semmelweis University and the University of Pécs, with international specialists expected to assist using modern rehabilitation protocols. As part of these efforts to streamline care, reforms, Health Minister Zsolt Hegedűs announced plans is moving to abolish a protocol that established by the National Health Insurance Fund Management (NEAK) in April 2023, which restricted elective hip and knee replacement surgeries replacements for patients with a Body Mass Index (BMI) above 35. Hegedűs described criticized the existing rule as “unorthodox” and “discriminatory,” noting it was implemented without consulting medical colleges. While experts like Miklós Szendrői of the Hungarian Orthopaedic and Traumatology Association noted that a BMI above 40 increases risk, they argued it previously placed such patients on inactive waiting lists. should not be an absolute exclusion. The new approach will shift policy shifts decision-making from fixed numerical limits to individual risk assessments by surgical teams and hospitals.

Versions

  1. 2026-09-27 14:58 UTC Hungary healthcare surgical waiting list reforms
  2. 2026-09-22 04:51 UTC Hungary healthcare surgical waiting list reforms

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