More than 13,000 patients are waiting for surgery in the Azores, according to data from the Regional Health Directorate for September, which points to a 13% increase in the waiting list compared to the same period last year.

“In September 2025, a total of 13,187 patients were waiting on the LIC [surgery waiting list], which corresponds to an increase of 1.1% (144 more patients) compared to the previous month. Compared to the same month last year, there has been an increase of 13% (1,519 more patients), according to the monthly newsletter of the Central Unit for the Management of Patients Registered for Surgery in the Azores.

Since May 2023, the number of people waiting for surgery in the Azores has been increasing compared to the same period last year.

The August newsletter, which was released simultaneously with the September newsletter, also indicates an increase in the number of people on the waiting list.

At the end of the month, 13,043 patients were waiting for surgery, 168 (1.3%) more than in July and 1,582 (13.8%) more than in August 2024.

According to the September newsletter, the three hospitals in the region increased their surgical waiting lists compared to the previous month and the same period last year.

The Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo (HDES) in Ponta Delgada had the most patients waiting for surgery (8,600) at the end of September.

Affected by a fire in May 2024, the largest hospital in the region recorded the largest year-on-year increase in the surgical waiting list, with 1,376 more patients registered (19%).

The Hospital da Horta, with 1,439 registered patients, had 112 more patients waiting (8.4%) than in September 2024, while the Hospital de Santo Espírito da Ilha Terceira (HSEIT) had 3,148 registered patients, 31 (1%) more than in the same period last year.

Some patients are waiting for more than one surgery, which is why the number of surgical proposals on the waiting list is higher.

At the end of September, it reached 14,665, 156 (1.1%) more than in August and 1,689 (13%) more than in the same period last year.

Despite the growth in waiting lists, surgical output in the Azores increased this month.

According to the report, 676 surgeries were performed, 200 (42%) more than in August and 102 (17.8%) more than in September 2024.

More than half of the surgeries were performed at the Ponta Delgada hospital (352), which recorded a year-on-year increase of 54.4%.

At the Terceira hospital, 203 operations were performed, which is 11.7% less than in September 2024. At the Horta hospital, 121 operations were performed, 4.3% more than in September 2024.

According to the Regional Secretariat for Health and Social Security, the bulletin only presents the figures for increased production under the CIRURGE program, not counting surgeries performed during the normal period in hospitals.

In September, Azoreans waited an average of 474 days (over a year and three months) for surgery, 37 days more than in the same month in 2024.

At the Ponta Delgada hospital, the average waiting time was 511 days (49 more), at the Terceira hospital 424 days (four more), and at the Horta hospital 370 days (29 more).

In all three health units, the average waiting time exceeded the regulated maximum guaranteed response times (TMRG), which stipulate that a surgery with normal priority should be performed within a maximum of 270 days.

Of the surgeries performed in September in the Azores, about half (53%) occurred within the TMRG, 0.9 percentage points more than in the same period last year (52.1%).

This month, 988 new surgical proposals were admitted to the three hospitals in the region, 110 (12.5%) more than in August and 70 (7.6%) more than in September 2024.

There were also 166 surgery cancellations, representing a 19.8% reduction compared to the previous month and a 4.4% increase compared to the same period last year.

In Diário Insular-José Lourenço, director

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