You better not be in a rush if you need an exam at a hospital in Croatia.
“It is unbelievable to have to wait that long for an exam. I am not having an MRI exam to have fun,” says Danijela Modrušan, reports Jutarnji List on July 30, 2018.
Because of horrible headaches, Modrušan was referred by her family physician to a neurologist. After an examination, the specialist told her that it was necessary to make an MRI scan of her brain. She went to the Pula General Hospital to schedule the exam. The date: 29 December 2020.
Jelena from Zagreb has been trying to find out what her illness is for years. After a myriad of examinations and extensive documentation, it was concluded that an immunologist should determine the cause of her problems. That is why she went to the Zagreb Clinical Hospital Centre to schedule her exam. The date: 26 February 2020.
Thanks to the public healthcare system, Danijela will suffer the pain for the next two and a half years without knowing the diagnosis, while Jelena will wait for one and a half years.
“I am certainly not going to have an MRI scan to have fun. After all, a specialist neurologist ordered the exam to find out what is wrong. It is unbelievable that I have to wait for two and a half years. Even if this is not an emergency exam, waiting for almost 30 months is unacceptable,” says Danijela, adding that she will rather pay privately for her exam and let other patients use here scheduled date.
Jelena shares her view, adding that she is tired of looking for the cause of her illness and is afraid that at this rate she will never solve the problem.
It seems that waiting lists at the Croatian hospitals have only grown longer in recent months.
The Zagreb Clinical Hospital Centre explained why patients wait for almost two years to see an immunologist. “The Rheumatology/Immunology Department has too many patients. The number of patients who are examined at the department’s outpatient clinic has doubled in the past three years to more than 23,000 exams a year. We have nine specialists, and each examines more than 2,000 patients a year,” said Branimir Anić, the department head.
Another problem is the fact that many patients decide not to come to their first scheduled examination without informing the hospital, thus directly compromising the rights of other patients.
“The number of examinations by specialist physicians at our institution is at least twice as large as in most other comparable institutions. It should be noted that there are two other similar departments in Zagreb – at the Sestre Milosrdnice Clinical Hospital Centre and at the Dubrava Clinical Hospital,” said Anić, accusing some of the other medical institutions in Croatia of not even scheduling exams for patients because they allegedly do not have free slots.
“We should also analyse the geographical distribution of patients according to the place of residence and the location where they schedule their exams,” says Anić.
Translated from Jutarnji List (reported by Ivana Krnić).
