A majority of the countries studied monitor national waiting times and have some type of national waiting time care guarantee. This implies that waiting time is an issue of concern. In a study from 2003 of waiting times in OECD countries, Siciliani and Hurst concluded that “waiting times” is a serious health policy issue in 12 of the countries included in that study (Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom). Waiting times were not recorded administratively in a second group of countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and the United States) but the authors wrote that they were anecdotally (informally) reported to be low [21]. Our study shows that eight years later, the same countries still record waiting times.
...In countries where waiting times are not registered and reported, accessibility may still be an issue. France's lack of national monitoring is often cited as evidence that the country has no waiting time problems. However, the large regional differences in terms of services provided and number of doctors have led to inequities in access [38]. Greece suffers from long waiting times, and informal payments to “jump the queue” are common [50]. In Germany the debate has revolved around the fact that people who are privately insured have faster access to health care [30], [31], [51]. In Austria, researchers have found that privately insured patients have faster access and they have refuted the notion that the country has no waiting times [52]. In the United States, access to care also varies with socioeconomic status and geographic area [53].
Sweden has repeatedly been mentioned as a country with relatively long waiting times [10], [18], but this cannot be confirmed, as it is not possible to compare to other countries using official national statistics.
