Patients in Camp de Tarragona waited an average of more than 100 days for a first specialist visit in 2025, and in the most serious cases, the waiting times reached between 150 and 200 days. The data comes from an analysis by Metges de Catalunya based on records from the Servei Català de la Salut.
The main gap appears when comparing these times with current regulations. The system exceeds the maximum of 30 days for preferential priorities and also exceeds the limit of 90 days set for ordinary priority in several high-demand specialties.
Otorhinolaryngology closed December with an average wait of 188 days
In December 2025, the most congested specialty in the public system was otorhinolaryngology, with an average wait of 188 days. Following behind were traumatology, with 123 days, and ophthalmology, with 93.
Throughout the entire year, urology and digestive system had average wait times close to 120 days. Both specialties slightly exceeded the regulatory timeframe, although at the same time they reduced the number of patients on the waiting list.
Pep Serra, vice president of Metges de Catalunya, warned that the average waiting days indicator does not always reflect what happens with each user. The union leader pointed out that there can be very wide differences between patients within the same statistic.
"There may be patients who wait 2 days and others 60" - Pep Serra, vice president of Metges de Catalunya
This reading, according to Serra, requires looking beyond the average when evaluating real accessibility to specialized care in Camp de Tarragona.
Referrals keep oncological surgery in Catalonia at 21 days
Compared to the backlog in first visits, serious pathologies show lower response times in Catalonia as a whole. Oncological interventions maintain an average of 21 days, below the regulatory limit of 45.
Pep Serra attributed part of this result to the referral of patients to reference hospitals. In his opinion, this organization produces favorable figures in the records, although it may have effects on territorial equity.
"Result in which the numbers are good" - Pep Serra, vice president of Metges de Catalunya
Cardiac surgeries also show reduced average times because the activity is concentrated in a few centers. In contrast, other interventions present a more unequal picture between the formal timeframe and the evolution of the lists.
The cataract operation remains at 75 days of waiting, within the maximum of 180 days. Even so, knee and hip prostheses and breast reconstruction maintain correct statistics while their waiting lists grew throughout the year.
Xavier Lleonart, general secretary of Metges de Catalunya, reproached the Departament de Salut for avoiding a detailed analysis of waiting lists. Lleonart maintained that the publication of open data does not substitute the "exercise of transparency".