The time between identifying a patient for the long-term care network and finding a vacancy increased in 2022, when more than 90% of the population lived an hour or less from a point in the network with an inpatient unit.
According to the monitoring data released today by the Health Regulatory Authority (ERS), there was a worsening trend in the median time from identifying the patient to the network (referral) until a vacancy was found, both in the Medium Duration and Rehabilitation Units (UMDR) and in the Long Duration and Maintenance Units (ULDM), in all regions.
At the end of 2022, 1,562 users were waiting for a place in the National Integrated Continued Care Network (RNCCI), 19.24% more than the previous year and 23.09% more than at the end of 2020. The largest number of waiting users was concentrated in the ULDM.
Compared to the previous year, at the end of 2022 the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region was the only one with fewer users waiting for a place in the RNCCI (from 671 to 649 people), but it was still the region with the most users on the waiting list.
The regulator’s data also indicates that, of the users actually admitted in 2022, around 80% lived 60 minutes or less from the respective unit and more than 40% 30 minutes or less.
According to the Monitoring of Access to the National Network of Integrated Continued Care, in the UC (Convalescence Units) and Integrated Continued Care Teams (ECCI) the median waiting time has worsened in most health regions.
The average length of stay exceeded the expected duration for the respective type of hospitalization in most health regions, “which will have an impact on the waiting time until a vacancy is found,” the ERS points out.