The monitoring of waiting times within the National Health Service (SNS) for the first half of 2025 revealed that, as of June 30, a total of 7,538 patients were waiting for scheduled cancer surgery, of which 7,468 were waiting in the public sector.
Compared to the same period in 2024, there was a 4.7% increase in the number of patients waiting for operations, attributed to the growing waiting list in public and protocol hospitals, as detailed by the ERS.
The regulator noted that 16.3% of patients waiting for surgery by the end of the first half of the year experienced waiting times exceeding the guaranteed maximum response times (TMRG), reflecting a marginal reduction of 0.4 percentage points from 2024.
ERS data further indicates that during the first half of 2025, 37,195 oncology surgeries were performed, 92.6% of which took place in public health units, marking an overall increase in activity of 6.9%.
The report, which separates oncology surgery data due to specific TMGR requirements, suggests that the increase in surgical activity at public hospitals may be justified by an exceptional incentive scheme aiming to reduce waiting lists for patients suspected or confirmed to have cancer, beyond the TMRG.
Of all patients who underwent surgery in the first half of 2025 in SNS hospitals, 19.5% faced waiting times longer than legally established limits for their oncology priority level.
For other surgeries—excluding oncology and cardiac—ERS identified that on June 30, 2025, there were 200,307 patients on waiting lists, with 192,209 (96%) waiting at public hospitals, 3,593 (1.8%) at protocol hospitals, and 4,505 (2.2%) at destination hospitals, which include private and social sector units under the Integrated Surgery Registry Management System (SIGIC).
Compared to the same period in 2024, there was a 2.8% decrease in the total number of patients waiting, driven by reductions in waiting lists at public hospitals (2.5%) and protocol hospitals (22.6%).
Protocol hospitals, under contract with SNS for initial consultations, are considered the origin hospitals for patients listed for surgery and must ensure adherence to TMRG.
ERS reported that in the first half of this year, 334,339 surgeries across various specialties were performed, with 305,717 (91.4%) in SNS, 15,823 (4.7%) in protocol hospitals, and 12,7399 (3.8%) in destination hospitals, an increase of 3.6% from the same period in 2024.
Overall, 18.6% of the 68,780 surgery vouchers and transfer notes issued by SIGIC were accepted [by patients and the hospital], a drop of 8.3 percentage points compared to the same period last year, possibly due to patients choosing to remain on the waiting list at the origin hospital due to established trust, among other factors, stated ERS.
Of patients operated on in the first half of 2025 in public hospitals, 13.2% encountered waiting times exceeding the limit set for their priority level.
As for cardiology, ERS noted that in the first six months of 2025, 4,904 scheduled surgeries were performed, all within SNS, with 32.7% of patients experiencing waiting times beyond those predicted.
As of June 30, 2,437 patients were waiting for cardiac surgery, 56.9% of whom were exceeding the legally established time limit, according to the regulatory authority.
