NEAK figures from June 2026, cited by Economx, show that nearly 12,000 people were waiting for hip replacements and around 23,000 for knee replacements. More than 90 per cent of patients who had been waiting for at least 180 days were awaiting one of these two procedures, which is why the first phase of the programme concentrates on them.
Under the government’s plan, waiting times should fall below six months for inpatient care and two months for outpatient care by the end of 2027. The programme is nationwide and therefore also covers patients in Budapest, including residents of District VII, as well as the hospitals treating them.
A phone call may be the first step
Patients will initially be contacted by the hospital holding their surgical booking. Staff from the Országos Népegészségügyi Intézet, the National Institute of Public Health, or Egészségvonal may also call if necessary. Anyone who cannot be reached by phone will receive information by post.
Patients who have been on a waiting list for at least 12 months will be contacted individually. By 15 November, hospitals must review the circumstances of everyone who has been waiting for more than 180 days. Updated figures, following the review of the records, were promised for November.
Hospital waiting-list coordinators will work as case managers, following each patient’s progress and helping to arrange pre-operative preparations and dates. If an operation is cancelled at short notice, a patient who has already completed the necessary preparations may be offered the available slot.
Hospitals plan to organise more operations
Most procedures will continue to take place during normal working hours. Hospitals with sufficient staff and operating capacity may also arrange surgery in the afternoon or on Saturdays. Institutions that previously carried out two or three operations a day may be able to increase that figure to four through changes in scheduling.
Hospitals may use one another’s operating theatres and surgical teams, while the range of procedures available through day surgery may also be expanded. At the launch of the programme, Hungary’s health minister, Zsolt Hegedűs, said that working practices already shown to be effective should be introduced more widely. “The most expensive time is when nothing is happening in an operating theatre and it is standing empty,” he said.
Extra funding for additional operations
The programme has a total budget of HUF 21.6 billion. Of this, HUF 1.2 billion is allocated for 2026 and HUF 18.9 billion for 2027. Institutions funded by NEAK, Hungary’s National Health Insurance Fund, may receive additional money if they perform more hip and knee replacements than the 2019 baseline.
The enhanced funding rate will rise from the current 110 per cent to 130 per cent. Hospitals will receive an additional 25 per cent for providing the treatment, with a further 5 per cent linked to the reporting of quality data, including patient feedback and information entered in the joint replacement registry. At least 80 per cent of the supplementary payment will go to doctors, healthcare staff and coordinators directly involved in the care.
A further HUF 1 billion has been allocated to equipment and IT development, while HUF 500 million will be used to improve the institutional waiting-list registration system. Results will be reviewed every quarter, and changes in waiting lists and waiting times will be made public.
People waiting for hip or knee replacement surgery should primarily expect to be contacted by phone or post by the hospital managing their booking. Current waiting times will remain available on the NEAK website.
Source: Economx
