Patients across Europe are facing prolonged delays for essential medical care, with waiting times stretching from weeks to years in some cases, according to new data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The findings, published in Health at a Glance 2025, highlight growing pressure on healthcare systems and the real impact on patient wellbeing.
In the United Kingdom, more than one in ten patients waiting to see a specialist report delays of over a year. In Slovenia, the situation is even more severe, where the median waiting time for a hip replacement reaches 667 days, nearly two years. Experts warn that such delays are not merely administrative backlogs but have direct consequences for patients’ health, mobility and quality of life.
“Postponing the expected benefits of treatment means that patients continue living with pain and disability for longer than they need to,” the OECD report noted, adding that delayed care can also worsen outcomes after treatment is finally delivered.
The problem is not limited to specialist care. Accessing general practitioners or nurses can also involve significant waiting periods. In countries such as Germany, France, Sweden and the UK, between 18% and 23% of patients report waiting more than a week for a routine appointment. When slightly shorter delays are included, the proportion of patients waiting up to a week rises to nearly a third in several countries.
Specialist access shows even greater disparities. In the UK, 11% of patients wait more than a year for a specialist consultation, compared with 2% in both France and Germany. However, longer medium-term waits are also widespread, with up to 43% of patients in France and 32% in the UK waiting between two months and a year.
Surgical waiting times reveal similar challenges. For cataract surgery, 81% of patients in Norway and 71% in Finland waited more than three months after assessment in 2024. In the UK, Portugal and Spain, more than half of patients faced similar delays. Compared with pre-pandemic levels, waiting times have increased in most countries, with the UK seeing a rise from 22% to 58% of patients waiting over three months.
Hip replacement delays are particularly stark, with median waits exceeding a year in several countries, including Poland and Slovenia.
Health policy experts attribute these differences to imbalances between demand and capacity, as well as staffing shortages, funding constraints and ageing populations increasing pressure on services.
Luigi Siciliani of the University of York said waiting times reflect broader system challenges, including how countries allocate resources and manage rising healthcare demand. Eurostat data also shows that delays are a leading cause of unmet medical needs across the European Union.
As waiting lists grow, experts warn that addressing capacity gaps will be central to improving access and preventing long-term deterioration in patient outcomes.
