Overview
- Health authorities identified about 1,800 people with waits near six months and say more than 800 have now authorized voluntary transfer to private clinics.
- Health Minister Alberto Martínez told the Basque Parliament the step has curbed the growth of the surgical waiting list.
- The offer targets patients past roughly 150 days on the list and gives them a faster operation at a contracted center instead of remaining in the public-hospital queue.
- A published letter from a resident asks whether patients can choose their doctor or clinic, whether diagnostic tests must be repeated, and who would be liable for malpractice.
- The plan uses long-standing contracts with private providers that Spain’s public system employs to add operating capacity, a model that often draws scrutiny over public–private boundaries.