Coalición Canaria Lanzarote y La Graciosa considers it necessary to "analyze the evolution of public healthcare on the island from a global perspective and not solely based on a specific waiting list figure". The nationalist organization acknowledges that many patients are still waiting, especially for outpatient appointments, but also emphasizes the notable progress made in the last three years in surgical activity, waiting times, hiring, and healthcare capacity.
The island secretary of the nationalist party, Pedro San Ginés, points out that "there are problems to solve and waiting lists that we must continue to reduce, but there are also objective data that support the improvement in island healthcare, leading the management indicators of the autonomous community thanks to the enormous effort of its professionals".
In this regard, the average delay for a surgical intervention has gone from 100.39 days in June 2023 to 60.86 days in June 2026, a decrease of 39.4%. Furthermore, patients who had been waiting more than six months for an operation have gone from 321 to 75, a 76.6% decrease.
Added to this evolution is a significant increase in activity. The Doctor José Molina Orosa University Hospital performed 13,047 interventions in 2025, compared to 7,993 in 2019, more than 5,000 additional operations per year.
To state, as the PSOE has done in a press release, that "this is the worst situation in decades" is to ignore that many more operations are performed today, that people wait almost forty days less than in 2023, and that delays exceeding six months have been reduced by nearly 77%. "To claim that is not analyzing the data, it is taking a figure to manipulate reality with a headline, knowing that in healthcare there is always much to be done," states San Ginés.
More professionals and more healthcare activity
Coalición Canaria also highlights the reinforcement of the staff at the Lanzarote Health Services Management, which has increased from 521 to 605 medical professionals between August 2023 and August 2026, representing 84 more professionals.
This increase has been accompanied by an increase in healthcare activity. Initial medical consultations have grown, as has significantly the activity of Nursing, with 18 new staff members and 20 additional auxiliary nursing care technicians in Outpatient Nursing and Functional Tests.
In the first half of 2026, Nursing consultations reached 36,364 attendances, compared to 19,238 in the same period of 2023: 17,126 more and a growth of 89%. The monthly average went from 3,206 to 6,061 consultations, almost double, while new professionals and spaces have been incorporated to expand care capacity.
“Outpatient consultations remain our main challenge and no one disputes it. Precisely for this reason, work is being done to increase capacity, incorporate professionals, and enable new spaces. The objective must be to continue reducing waiting times,” states the nationalist leader.
Among the planned actions is the new Zone 2 of Outpatient Consultations at Molina Orosa, with around 1,000 square meters, which will allow for 16 new consultations and the reorganization of different specialties. Its implementation is scheduled for the end of 2026.
An evolution that also extends to diagnostic tests
CC also focuses on the evolution of complementary tests. Between June 2023 and June 2026, the average waiting time was significantly reduced for tests such as mammography, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging.
San Ginés believes that this data should be part of any analysis of the island's health situation.
“It is legitimate to point out what still does not work as we want and to demand that it be improved. What does not help is to convey that everything is worse when the data shows important, unquestionable progress. We have to continue working so that these advances reach all patients and, especially, to reduce waiting times in outpatient consultations,” he emphasizes.
CC also recalls that the Ministry of Health itself has initiated this year the review of the state system for information on waiting lists, considering that the current model has limitations in adequately reflecting the complexity of healthcare and patient movements.
For Coalición Canaria, the health situation in Lanzarote requires continuing to increase healthcare capacity, strengthening staff, and reducing waiting times, but also recognizing the work done and the positive evolution of most key indicators.
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