Waiting lists, whether regarding a surgery, consultation or even care of GES/AUGE (Explicit Health Guarantees, a public scheme that seeks to legally ensure access to diagnosis and treatment to an explicit list of diseases), is a significant problem in the Chilean society.
In this context, Movement Health 2030, together with their strategic partner the National Centre of Health Information Systems (CENS), decided that this is an important issue to focus on.
CIFS, as a partner and co-founder of MH2030, formulated this problem in the form of a manifesto that addresses waiting lists for patients. It contains a call for action and to pursue health beyond politics; at CIFS, we believe it is important, since political activities have been often imposed when trying to solve the issue without taking the needs of patients into account. This manifesto was signed by 18 persons, authorities in healthcare.
To understand the discourse of waiting lists in Chile and to identify a possible solution, CIFS carried out an exhaustive investigation of relevant best practices available globally. The research in these areas proved to be a novelty as well, as no complete lists of best practices was available at the time. The research by CIFS resulted in a compilation of various relevant best practices from various countries, which we deem to have been a success.
This list was presented at a roundtable, where experts chose solutions to focus on. These are best practices that have originated from Portugal, Denmark and New Zealand. In August, CIFS contacted Dr Luigi Siciliani, University of York (United Kingdom). Through his extensive experience, he provided an overview of the issue of waiting lists and best practices, and identifying which ones may work in Chile.