At three of the four hospitals, the waiting times for the urologist are extreme. That is a national problem, as indicated by the Dutch Association of Urology (NVU) in March Medical Contact. “There are currently several vacancies for urologists across the country, while we never had vacancies until a few years ago. As a result, the workload is increasing and doctors are overworked. And as a result, waiting lists for outpatient visits and urological interventions are also increasing.” said urologist Bart van Bezooijen, chairman of the NCE, against Medical Contact.
The number of training places is already being increased from 23 to 24 places. But the NCE thinks that is not enough and has urged the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) to increase the number of training places to 26.
A shortage of ophthalmologists means that waiting times here have been very long for years. The reasons for the long waiting times for other treatments are complex. The hospitals in Drenthe say that it is still partly the aftermath of corona, but not only that. They also emphasize that urgent patients (e.g. oncology) are always helped within six weeks, otherwise health damage would occur.
“It is not easy to give an unequivocal explanation for longer than desired waiting times,” says spokesperson Janine Hoekstein of the WZA. “For example, post-covid and staff shortages play a role; to what extent cannot be indicated exactly. Incidentally, staff shortages were a reason for the long waiting time for stomach examinations. A stomach-liver-intestine doctor has now been added, so we are running this again in.”