Spain drafts waiting lists protocol:

The Spanish parliament is considering legislation that establishes the criteria for regulating waits for consultancy appointments, diagnostics tests and surgical interventions, as well as a prioritisation protocol. The draft royal decree presented in parliament last week does not, however, set out maximum waiting times, but shifts the responsibility for establishing these onto the individual devolved regions. Neither does it regulate waits for these services in emergency cases. The regional health authorities are to produce guidelines on how to prioritise the management of specific conditions, and will be required to submit six-monthly waiting numbers and times to a national monitoring centre.