Väntetider – den svenska hälso- och sjukvårdens akilleshäl

Abstract

Long waiting times are an acknowledged problem in Swedish health care. This article provides an overview of the management of this complex issue, with a focus on the construction of currently employed measures of waiting time. To track these measures, a national webb-based  data collection was implemented in 2000, and since 2015 waiting times at emergency departments have been reported to the National Patient Registry. Waiting times are part of the process of care provision, and are ultimately a question of balancing supply and demand. The main efforts to tackle the issue have come in the form of health care guarantees, while standardised care processes have been introduced for instance in cancer care. Measurement alone is not enough to tackle long waiting times, and addressing them requires both appropriate follow-up and interventions.