The waiting list for surgery in the Azores has been growing since May 2023. According to data from the Regional Health Directorate, in September, 11,668 registered users were reached, 9.7% more than in the same period last year.
“In September 2024, a total of 11,668 users were waiting on the LIC [list of those registered for surgery], which corresponds to an increase of 1.8% (207 more users) 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 Regional Health Directorate’s website.
Compared to September 2023, there are 1,033 more patients registered, which represents an increase of 9.7%.
The reports show year-on-year increases in the number of patients on the waiting list in the region since May 2023.
The Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo (HDES) in Ponta Delgada, which was affected by a fire in May 2024, had the biggest year-on-year increase in registered users (11.3%) in September, but all three hospitals in the region have increased their surgical waiting lists.
At the end of the month, 7,224 patients were registered at HDES on the island of São Miguel; 3,117 at Hospital de Santo Espírito da Ilha Terceira (HSEIT) (up 7.4%) and 1,327 at Hospital da Horta on the island of Faial (up 6.6%).
Patients are registered for more than one surgery, so the number of surgical proposals on the waiting list has also increased.
At the end of September, there were 12,976, 1.7% more than in August and 10% more than in the same period last year.
According to the report, Azoreans were waiting an average of 437 days (more than a year and two months) for surgery in September, an increase of 51 days compared to the same period last year.

The average waiting time increased in all three health units, reaching 462 days at HDES, 421 days at HSEIT, and 340 days at HH.
In all three, the average waiting time was above the regulated maximum guaranteed response times (TMRG), which stipulates that standard priority surgery must be carried out in a maximum of 270 days.
Of the surgeries carried out this month in the Azores, around half (52.1%) occurred within the TMRG, 10.1 percentage points less than in the same period last year (62.2%).
The report shows that 574 surgeries were carried out in September, 141 (32.6%) more than in August but 281 (32.9%) less than in the same month in 2023.
According to the Regional Secretariat for Health and Social Security, 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.
In September, the region’s three hospitals received 918 new surgical proposals, 8.8% more than in August but 15.2% less than in the same period of the previous year. There were also 159 surgery cancellations, representing an increase of 74.7% from the prior month and a decrease of 22.4% compared to September 2023. The last monthly newsletter from the Central Unit for the Management of Surgical Enrolments in the Azores was published in August, with data for June.

In Diário dos Açores-Osvaldo Cabral, 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.