The CCSS strike from last year is still impacting those who have been on outrageously long waiting lists for surgeries and appointments. 4,000 operations were cancelled during the month of the protest.
While these were all rescheduled by January, they took the place of other people’s surgeries. Those people are still waiting. Additionally, 114,000 appointments were stopped during that month of protest, during a time when there was supposed to be in action a plan meant to reduce wait times.
Before the protest, the average wait for surgery was 360 days. An objective of the Timely Care Plan was set to reduce that by 30 days but the strike prevented that goal from being met. The current wait time is 369 days, still a bit better than the 451 registered in 2017.
The Caja was ordered by Sala IV in April to prepare a plan in six months to reduce these unreasonable waiting times. There are over a dozen actions ongoing now to reduce the time, including high-impact campaigns, surgery marathons, and 34 sites carrying out long-term operations after 4pm.
