Fast only in an emergency

Long traffic jams on the surgery waiting lists

You have to wait a particularly long time for a new hip or knee

(Bild: EKH / M. Knapp)

Patients in Burgenland have to wait up to 78 weeks for an operation. This is particularly stressful for those suffering from pain.

Hip pain, knee pain or blurred vision - waiting urgently for an operation can be a test of nerves. This is also the case for Gertrude B. from southern Burgenland. The 58-year-old has been waiting 8 months for a new hip. She has been suffering from increasingly severe pain for several years, which has had a considerable impact on her daily life and work. An operation would help her, but patience is required along the way. After a year of waiting, the time has finally come in three months.

I can't afford a private doctor, so I'll just have to wait it out.

Gertrude B.

"I'm already counting down the days, but there's no point in complaining anyway. I can't afford a private doctor, so I'll just have to sit it out," says the cheerful lady, who refuses to let her pain get her down. The fact that Mrs. B.'s patience is so long is due to her positive nature.

Franz H: "Politics forgets about the people"
Franz H. from northern Burgenland is a different story. "My wife has been waiting for her knee operation for over a year. I can see every day that she is suffering, but I can't help her. It makes you angry," says the pensioner, who believes that politicians are primarily at fault. "They are only concerned with themselves and forget about the people. We've been paying into a social system for decades and what do we get out of it in the end - just trouble?"

Waiting times: Between 10 months and 1.5 years
Despite the efforts of the hospitals, waiting times for operations have not improved significantly in Burgenland compared to the previous year. There is still a backlog on the waiting lists - even though postponed operations should have been rescheduled long ago due to the pandemic.

At the Gesundheit Burgenland clinics (Güssing and Oberwart), people are waiting an average of ten months for joint replacement surgery. Between 4 and 6 months for a joint arthroscopy.

On the other hand, Gesundheit Burgenland reported a success with cataract operations (eyes). Here, the waiting time was reduced from 9 months to 4-5 months in 2024.

People are getting older and the number of operations is increasing
If you need a new knee or hip joint, you can expect to wait over a year at the Hospital of the Brothers of Mercy in Eisenstadt. There are many reasons for this, according to the hospital operator. Among other things, this is due to the demographic age structure. An increasing number of operations for femoral neck fractures are being noticed here. These have to be treated promptly, which inevitably reduces the capacity for planned operations. Accidents and injuries following leisure accidents in the Lake Neusiedl region are also noticeable at Eisenstadt Hospital.

More staff and more capacity as a solution
The aim is to counteract this with more staff and additional operating room capacity in order to be able to carry out more planned operations during the day. There are also high hopes for the opening of the Gols Clinic. The establishment of a trauma network, including the integration of the Frauenkirchen outpatient accident clinic, should make accident and trauma care even faster, they say. 

Gesundheit Burgenland boss: "Things are getting better"
We are on the verge of improving the situation everywhere, says Dr. Stephan Kriwanek, Medical Director of Gesundheit Burgenland. If you look at other federal states, waiting times in Burgenland are significantly shorter. But where is this improvement noticeable? "In the case of benign prostate operations, for example, we have managed to significantly reduce the considerable waiting list thanks to our cooperation with the Kittsee Clinic," says Kriwanek.

The staffing situation has also eased. "We are almost fully staffed in the area of doctors' posts and, since the new Oberwart Clinic opened, we will also reach full capacity in the operating theatres over the course of the year," says the Medical Director.

Expansion course in the field of orthopaedics
The orthopaedics department at Oberwart Clinic is also on course for expansion, with two operating theatres being used continuously for the first time in a long time. Gesundheit Burgenland expects a significant reduction in waiting times for joint replacement operations from 2026, when there will be a separate specialist orthopaedics department in Kittsee, which will become a separate department in the new Gols clinic.