Overview
- Government figures show statutory patients waited an average of 42 days for specialist appointments in 2024, or 36 days when same‑day cases are counted, up from 33 days in 2019.
- Extrabudgetary pay for open consultation hours climbed to about €814 million in 2023, contributing to roughly €2.9 billion since 2019 that auditors say produced no measurable improvement.
- Health Minister Nina Warken plans a primary‑care steering system with a draft bill promised by summer and initial effects expected later in the decade.
- Critics urge faster fixes such as binding appointment guarantees, digital triage and transparent GKV slots, with Karl Lauterbach proposing hospital treatment if no specialist visit is available within three weeks.
- Allocation tools are working within their remit, with 116117 service centers mediating 97% of 1.645 million bookings in 2024 in an average of 11 days, and GP‑mediated referrals surging to about 2.54 million in 2023.