Outpatient operations were most used in gynaecological and eye treatments.

There has been a slight but constant increase in the ratio of one-day surgery, but it is important to raise it further, national health fund spokeswoman Barbara Molnár said. The expansion could be faster but there is significant resistance in Hungarian practice, Molnár added.

In fact the figures showed marked growth over the last four years, with the percentage of outpatient surgical procedures in areas where they could have been applied rising from 14% in 2006, to 21.4% in 2007, 31.5% in 2008 and 34.2% in 2009. However the ÁSZ underlined that this ratio is over 50% in Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK, and 80% in the US.

Only 60% of the planned expenditure on one-day surgery was utilised, the ÁSZ noted.

The number of organ transplantations went down from 389 in 2005 to 354, while spending on these fell slightly, from Ft 2.5 billion to Ft 2.4 billion.

This is the reverse of international trends, ÁSZ deputy chairman Tihamér Warwasovszky said."

Source: Hungary Around the Clock.

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