(ANSA) - MADRID, 05 NOV - Waiting times of one year or more for a specialist visit and general practitioners overwhelmed by endless agendas of appointments with patients. These are some of the situations that are experienced in public health in some areas of Spain after the impact of the Covid pandemic, highlighted by the Iberian media after the record of people waiting to be examined by a specialist doctor was touched in the Community of Madrid: 500.366, according to data published by the regional administration and which refer to September.
As El País tells us, this is a situation that has become particularly critical after for months the public health system in Madrid had to deal with the coronavirus first of all, but it actually shows problems and delays that have already existed for years.
In Madrid, the Popular Party, a center-right group that has been governing continuously in the region for over 25 years, has often received accusations of wanting to favor private health care at the expense of public health.
The regional executive defends itself, for example, by claiming that it has foreseen in the budget law for 2022, under discussion, "over 65 million euros" to reduce waiting lists in hospitals.
According to El País, the total figure reserved for the healthcare sector this year is lower than that spent in this area in 2019. (ANSA).