The Asamblea Regional decided in Murcia on Wednesday that the Plan de Salud 2026–2032 must include binding, measurable targets for reducing waiting lists. These cover primary care (Atención Primaria), outpatient specialist appointments (consultas externas), diagnostic tests (pruebas diagnósticas) and operations (intervenciones quirúrgicas). The plan is also to include a tool for reducing regional inequalities in access to care. However, an extraordinary special plan proposed by the Socialist group to further reduce waiting lists did not secure a majority.
The decision followed a plenary session at which Health Minister Isabel Ayala defended the draft and put amendments to a vote. According to consistent reports, 46 of 53 amendments were adopted. These include a requirement to set indicators and targets for assessing waiting times. The proposal to embed specific reduction targets in the plan received broad support, including from the Grupo Mixto.
The regional government cites measures already under way to justify its approach. The Plan de Salud 2026–2032 is intended to strengthen primary care, integrate care in Salud Mental across services, and coordinate targeted action on diagnostics and surgery. According to the government, it builds on programmes to reduce waiting lists pursued since 2023 and provides for staffing and funding measures, the details of which must now be worked out within the administration.
Opposition groups argued during the debate that previous efforts had not reduced waiting lists enough and that different sets of figures were being used in public debate. The Partido Popular group, by contrast, pointed to the plan’s strategic approach and stressed its importance in reducing structural inequalities in access to care in the Región de Murcia. These party-political assessments were attributed in the plenary record and remain subject to further discussion.
Following adoption of the amendments, the Plan de Salud 2026–2032 returns to the executive for further development. The indicators, targets and deadlines will be defined in the next administrative steps and may lead to further parliamentary consideration. The effects are expected to be felt mainly by the Servicio Murciano de Salud: from resource planning, appointment management and measurement methods to capacity management in primary and specialist care. Binding funding commitments and detailed timetables had not yet been approved when the plenary session concluded.
Editor: Clara Simonichek (Article created with AI assistance).