The 18-month wait exposing Spain’s hidden hospital queues

In a small town in southern Spain, a colonoscopy from February 2025 has been awaiting a follow-up appointment for more than eighteen months. The patient in Cádiz says the procedure was recommended by a doctor in November 2024, but a week later, no callback was received. Their chase-up revealed the hospital had no available appointments.

A formal complaint was lodged in December 2025, yet the hospital took more than two months to respond, confirming the request was logged but unallocated. Now, the follow-up appointment remains elusive, raising concerns about the patient's health. The situation is echoed in another case, where a woman in Cádiz waited over two years for rehabilitation after a hip injury, only to find her appointment canceled by the doctor.

Despite calls for updates, she was never informed of the cancellation. Additionally, she was given false information about attending a previous appointment and a follow-up report understated her suffering for months. These cases highlight the broader issue of hospital queues in Andalusia. The Ministry of Health reports indicate that more than four million Spaniards were waiting for a first specialist appointment in December 2025, with an average wait of 102 days.

In Andalusia alone, nearly 900,000 individuals were on the waiting list, with an average wait of 136 days. However, these figures do not include follow-up reviews, which can leave patients waiting indefinitely. Both cases show that without a deadline, hospitals have no incentive to act, and the lack of tracking for follow-up appointments can lead to significant delays and potential health risks.