The waiting list for surgery in the Azores has been growing for a year, compared to last year, but it fell for the second month in April to 10,643 registered users.
“In April 2024, a total of 10,643 patients were waiting on the LIC [list of those registered for surgery], which corresponds to a decrease of around 0.4% (46 fewer patients) compared to the previous month,” reads the monthly newsletter of the Central Unit for the Management of Those Registered for Surgery in the Azores, available on the website of the regional health directorate.
Compared to April 2023, however, there was an increase of 474 registered users (4.7%).
Since May 2023, the reports show year-on-year increases in the number of users on the waiting list in the region.
Regarding monthly trends, March had already seen a decrease of around 0.6% (63 fewer patients) compared to February.
At the end of April, the Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo (HDES) in Ponta Delgada had the most patients on the waiting list for surgery in the Azores (6,410), followed by the Hospital de Santo Espírito da Ilha Terceira (HSEIT), with 2,999 patients, and the Hospital da Horta (HH), with 1,234.
Only HSEIT recorded an increase in registrations (1.2%) compared to the previous month, with HDES down 0.7% and HH down 3.2%.
Only Hospital da Horta saw a drop in registrations (- 1.4%) compared to the same period the previous year, with HDES registering an increase of 1.3% and HSEIT 15.8%.
The number of surgical proposals (patients registered for more than one surgery) also fell in April compared to the previous month (0.6%). Still, it increased compared to the same period the previous year (4.8%), at 11,852.
At the end of April, the average waiting time for surgery in the region was 399 days (about a year and a month), four days more than in March and 35 more than in the same month in 2023.

The average wait for surgery in Ponta Delgada Hospital is 415 days, in Terceira 397 days, and in Horta 320 days.
The three health units’ average waiting time was above the regulated maximum response times (TMRG), which stipulates that standard priority surgery should be carried out in a maximum of 270 days.
Only 59.9% of surgeries carried out this month in the Azores occurred within the TMRG, 2.7 percentage points less than in April 2023 (62.6%).
The report shows that 898 surgeries were carried out this month, 42 (4.9%) more than in March and 339 (60.6%) more than in the same period last year.
According to the Regional Health Secretariat, the bulletin only shows the figures for increased production under the CIRURGE program. It does not include surgeries carried out during the standard period in hospitals.
The number of new surgical proposals entered in April at the three hospitals also increased, with 1,047 recorded, eight (0.8%) more than in the previous month and 30 (2.9%) more than in April 2023.
There were also 242 surgery cancellations, an increase of 7.6% compared to March and 45.8% compared to last year.

in Diário Insular-José Lourenço, director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.