The Burrow
Aug 30, 2023
Hospital wait times, healthcare fees, and ambulance costs have all been hot discussion points around the world for the last few years, with some countries offering faster response times than others.
For instance, one survey by US organisation NiceRx, found Australia to have the seventh worst wait times to see doctors and specialists,1 and a survey by Statista found that Ireland has the fastest average ambulance response time in Europe.2
With so many different stats and surveys flying around, it can be hard knowing just how each country’s healthcare system stacks up. So, as health insurance experts, we decided to dig a little deeper!
By analysing eight separate factors, including the number of hospital beds, doctors, and nurses, as well as the average wait time for surgery across 34 countries, we’ve ranked which ones offer the fastest (and longest) wait times.
Europe scores well when it comes to waiting times, with six out of the top 10 countries all situated within the continent.
Sweden regularly comes top in surveys for happiness, childcare and wellbeing, and it’s no exception with surgical waiting times either.
Not only does the country have the most doctors and nurses per 10,000 people, at 70.62 and 215.9 respectively; but with average waiting times for surgery standing at 50 days, it’s the third lowest in the world (behind only Italy and Hungary).
Whilst not every country has social media sentiment recorded when it comes to hospitals, Sweden’s is the second most positive, with 40% of the population having something good to say about their medical care.
In second place is Switzerland, with the third most nurses per 10,000 people, at 187.1, meaning those in hospital are more likely to get more time and care than countries with fewer staff.
Not only that, but on a survey around waiting times for appointments, Switzerland’s residents were the happiest, with just 34% saying times were too long. And, to round it off, the public have the fourth highest satisfaction rates when it comes to getting medical treatment, with a Numbeo score of 72.04.
With more hospital beds per 10,000 people than anywhere else in the world at 129.8, Japan makes it into third place when it comes to the lowest surgery waiting times.
Japan offers universal healthcare which is relatively inexpensive (citizens pay 30% of their total medical bills3), and largely, people are happy with this, with the country having the third highest satisfaction levels with their healthcare, according to Numbeo, at 72.4.
Heading back to Europe, Belgium makes it into fourth place, due to the fact it has the second greatest number of doctors and nurses per 10,000 people, at 62.57 and 205.3 respectively.
Whilst health insurance is mandatory amongst citizens, this is done to fund state healthcare, which means people can access doctor and hospital appointments, as well as medication and more at a subsidised rate.4
Rounding off our top five countries offering the lowest surgical waiting times is South Korea. Not only does the country have the highest satisfaction rates with their healthcare system at 80.19; but they also have the second most hospital beds per 10,000 people, at 124.3.
Plus, South Korea scored the second best when it comes to waiting times, with just 37% of citizens claiming wait times for appointments were too long.
Other countries that made it into the top 10 are Hungary, Australia, Spain, Germany, and the US; with the UK coming in 13th place. Hungary scored the highest positive social media sentiment for their healthcare, at 50%; and Germany and Hungary have the third and fourth most hospital beds per 10,000 people, at 80 and 70.1 respectively.
We also looked at negative social media sentiment around healthcare, and Indonesia had the least number of mentions, at just 10%, followed by the UAE (16.7%) and Türkiye (20%).
In contrast, South and Central America scores the lowest overall, with four out of the top five situated in this continent; and Mexico and Argentina also placing in the bottom 10.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Peru is officially the country with the longest surgical waiting times, due to several different factors.
Not only does it have the fifth least doctors available, at just 16.46 per 10,000 people, but it also has the fifth least hospital beds (15.91 per 10,000 people), and the fourth least number of nurses (26.13 per 10,000 people); meaning naturally, people are waiting longer for appointments and surgery compared to countries that have more medical staff.
Unfortunately, because of this, Peru has the joint highest negative social media sentiment, with 100% of posts about healthcare negative. That’s in addition to the third worst opinions on wait times, with 81% of the population saying they’ve had to wait too long to get an appointment.
With the second least number of nurses per 10,000 people, at just 14.49, and the third highest percentages of negative social media sentiment, at 80%, Colombia has the second worst surgical waiting times in the world.
Despite this, the World Health Organization has voted Colombia’s healthcare system as the 22nd most efficient in the world (above both the US and Australia).5
Whilst health insurance is compulsory and practically all citizens in the bigger cities of Bogota and Medellin are covered, unfortunately, in more rural areas, access to healthcare isn’t as easy, which could be why it scores so poorly on our list.
Chile comes in third place for long surgery wait times, with the longest waiting time for surgery, at a staggering 221.3 days (however, with many countries not providing this data, it’s hard to know if Chile is actually the worst).
The country also has the joint highest negative social media sentiment, with 100% of posts around healthcare bad.
The healthcare system in Chile is a combination of public and private, with public healthcare typically focusing on medical treatment, and private services for secondary services, such as dermatology and cardiology.6
Whilst Brazil doesn’t rank the worst for any of the factors we analysed, its consistently low scoring has meant that overall, it’s placed fourth for the longest surgical wait times.
78% of the population believe that wait times are too long for appointments, and just 42.5% are satisfied with the responsiveness they’ve received.
Not only that, but Brazil is on the lower end of the spectrum when it comes to the number of hospital beds and doctors, at just 20.87 and 21.42 respectively.
Coming in fifth on our list and worst in Europe, is Poland. With an average wait time for surgery standing at 176.3 days, it’s the second longest in the world, and 81% of people agree that waiting times for appointments are too long.
Not only that, but the country also has the third least satisfaction with responsiveness in medical institutions, at 36.4%.
Whilst these countries scored the worst overall for waiting times, if we look at factors individually, we get a bigger picture. For instance, whilst India scores 23rd overall, it has the least number of hospital beds in the world, at just 5.3 per 100,000 people.
Indonesia ranks 24th, yet has the least number of doctors and nurses per 10,000 people, at 6.95 and 11.16 respectively; with India and South Africa having the second and third least number of doctors.
When it comes to social media, France and Ireland have the least positive social media sentiment, with just 4.35% and 6.38% posts around healthcare good.
As Lana Hambilton, Head of Health Insurance at Compare the Market states: “We all know that healthcare isn’t equal across countries; and whilst you may come from a place that offers free or subsidised healthcare, you could still be facing long wait times depending on the state of the industry.”
“That’s why it’s so important to take out private health insurance. In Australia, having a private health insurance hospital policy gives you freedom of choice when it comes to your health: you could avoid long public waiting lists, and even choose your own available doctor – which can give you peace of mind if you have a health issue that requires attention as a hospital inpatient.”
Alternatively, you may want to take a look at extras only cover, which can be used towards out-of-hospital care, such as dental and optical appointments, physiotherapy, and much more.
This dataset ranks 34 countries, based on how good they are for surgical waiting times. To do this, 8 different factors were used. Once the data for the factors was collected, the factors were then normalised, to provide each factor with a score between 0 and 1. If data was not available, a score of 0 was given. The normalised values were then summed, to give each location a total score out of 8. The locations were then ranked from highest to lowest, based on their total scores, with a higher score producing a higher ranking.
The factors are as follows:
The factors will be normalised as follows:
All data is correct as of 18/08/2023. The ranking data shown is a compilation of multiple data sources and may not be representative of real life. All data is accurate with regards to the sources provided.