Hungary could begin implementing a programme aimed at reducing healthcare waiting lists this autumn, while a patient satisfaction platform could also be launched, Health Minister Zsolt Hegedűs said on Monday.
Hegedűs said the professional programme for reducing waiting lists had been completed and could be implemented in the autumn following the necessary government decision. The programme is expected to include dedicated funding, an implementation timetable and measurable targets.
The ministry is also prioritizing the launch of a patient satisfaction platform, which is likewise planned for the autumn. The ministry intends to publish quality indicators for the National Ambulance Service (OMSZ) transparently in September and further improve public access to data on hospital-acquired infections.
A separate health quality control authority could begin operating in early 2027, Hegedűs said. Work is also under way to establish a new institutional management and so-called clinical governance system.
The government is reviewing the regulations governing healthcare service employment, including rules on staff deployment, working and rest periods and on-call duties.
The minister also said that significant progress is planned this autumn in regulating the relationship between the public and private healthcare sectors. The aim is to make the use of state assets, state-funded working hours and public financing more transparent.
A hospital cooling programme will continue as a multi-year reconstruction project, while the primary-care chronic disease management programme is being redesigned to make it sustainable over the long term.
Hegedűs said the additional funding promised for healthcare in the 2027 budget would be used as the financial foundation for a multi-year transformation. The government expects the additional resources to improve access to care, modernize primary healthcare, improve working conditions and raise the quality of patient care.
‘The additional funding promised for healthcare does not mean a one-off distribution of money for us, but the financial foundation of a multi-year transformation,’ the minister wrote.
He added that the government did not want to ‘run the same system with more money’, stressing that the additional resources must result in measurable improvements in access, working conditions, primary care and patient care.
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