By: Vida Kocjan
In Slovenia, as many as 329,116 patients are waiting for a medical examination. The number is increasing weekly and has grown by more than 11 percent in just over two years. During this time, the number of patients waiting beyond the acceptable waiting time has increased by 50 percent compared to just over two years ago – a total of 77,954, or nearly a quarter of all patients.
The National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) publishes this data weekly, but the Ministry of Health either does not have this data or is unwilling to share it with the public. When we requested the waiting list data from the ministry, they referred us to the NIJZ, claiming the data is monitored and managed there. Fair enough – if it were not for the fact that some journalists from other media recently uncovered that the ministry allegedly possesses data showing significantly higher figures. Regardless, even the NIJZ figures are alarming enough and should concern everyone in the country.
Changes to legislation and recording of waiting times
In 2025, the Ministry of Health amended the Rules on Appointments and Management of Waiting Lists. The allowable waiting period for the urgency level “very fast” was extended from 14 to 30 days. In addition, a new way of recording unacceptably long waiting times was introduced, where a patient is only considered to be waiting “unacceptably long” once the number of days on the waiting list exceeds the maximum allowable period – 180 days for “regular” and 90 days for “fast” appointments.
Warnings about the illusion of improvement were accurate
Experts warned at the time that these changes could create a statistical illusion of improvement, since the actual waiting times were not shortened – only the recording criteria were altered. The change in methodology, simply put, initially appeared beneficial, but the reality has now caught up with the numbers, and the painful truth is back.
Waiting times are especially long for specialist examinations, diagnostic tests, and surgical procedures. For example, the earliest available orthopaedic appointment in one of the university clinical centres is December 2025. For knee surgery, the waiting time stretches to January 2029, i.e., up to five years. In vascular surgery, the longest wait is for varicose vein operations, with a “very fast” referral requiring a 30-day wait, but under a “regular” referral, the wait is as long as 420 days. By comparison, for other procedures under “regular” urgency, the wait ranges from 60 to 75 days.
Dental services, especially orthodontic appointments, also have exceptionally long waiting periods – up to six years or more. One known case showed the first available appointment in October 2032, a wait of over seven years.
Patients left on their own – and paying
Due to long waiting times, many patients turn to private healthcare services, where waiting times are significantly shorter. However, these treatments are often expensive, and most people cannot afford them, leading to inequality in access to healthcare. Many seek treatment abroad, in Austria or Croatia – and pay out of pocket.
Let’s not forget: the current coalition (Gibanje Svoboda, SD, and Levica) converted the voluntary supplementary health insurance into a mandatory contribution. This means higher mandatory payments for healthcare. Yet, government representatives still falsely claim they “abolished” the supplementary contribution – which simply is not true. Meanwhile, private health insurance companies are booming, as citizens look for paid access to specialists. But this is not what the sick need – it means only those with money get timely care, while others wait for years.
They changed the rules – enabling queue-jumping
Prime Minister Robert Golob addressed a parliamentary question from Jelka Godec (SDS) during a National Assembly session on March 26th, 2025. She reminded him of his earlier statements in an interview, claiming that “waiting lists are significantly shortening” under his government. She pointed out that the reduction was not natural but administrative, for example, by extending the allowable waiting period for “very fast” referrals from 14 to 30 days in August 2024.
Golob responded that when someone drops out of the waiting list, the slot goes to the last person in line, supposedly improving statistics – but this confused patients. He even boasted about this type of queue-jumping.
We then asked the Ministry of Health where this is defined – in which law, regulation, or document. In a lengthy response, they explained how the “relative waiting time factor” is calculated and added: “The relative waiting factor allows patients who have waited the longest and have the highest calculated factor to be prioritised when a slot becomes available. Those who have waited the longest are called in first, which, of course, also reduces the average waiting time.”
They added that “relative waiting time is governed by Article 9 of the Rules on Appointments and Management of Waiting Lists and Maximum Allowable Waiting Times.” The regulation was published in the Official Gazette on July 19th, 2024, and has been in effect since August 1st, 2024.