The total number of people on waiting lists in October 2024 exceeded 60,000, half of whom were waiting for hip or knee endoprosthesis surgery – nearly 32,000.
The findings of an audit conducted by the State Audit Institution show that some healthcare institutions resort to providing services outside the order of the waiting list, which, as stated, undermines the principles of fairness, transparency, and equal treatment of patients.
Although the Regulation on Waiting Lists stipulates that the maximum waiting time for these procedures is 365 days, the average waiting period was 871 days for knee prosthesis implantation and 405 days for hip prosthesis implantation, according to the Report on the Performance Audit “Managing Waiting Lists for Hip and Knee Endoprosthesis Implantation in Real Time.”
According to the State Audit Institution (SAI), the healthcare institutions subject to the audit – the University Clinical Centre of Serbia, the University Clinical Centre of Vojvodina, and the Institute for Orthopaedic Surgery Banjica – had not established effective internal controls in the process of forming and managing waiting lists. This reduces transparency and undermines both trust in the system and equality in access to healthcare.
The audit also found that, due to the inability to provide services to a large number of people on waiting lists within the prescribed time, these healthcare institutions resorted to providing services outside the official order, which violates the principles of fairness, transparency, and equal treatment of patients.
During 2025, healthcare institutions did not enable oversight of waiting lists for hip and knee endoprosthesis surgeries, which may negatively affect the quality of list management, cause longer patient waiting times, and delay the provision of medical services.
Since this audit was conducted in real time, the SAI issued letters to management, leading to certain improvements within the audited institutions, the statement added.
After updating the waiting list at the University Clinical Centre of Vojvodina, out of a total of 467 patients called, 206 (from 2016, 2017, and 2018) were removed from the list, and incorrect entries in the National Health Insurance Fund’s waiting lists were corrected. As a result, this healthcare institution no longer has improperly formed waiting lists. Furthermore, the head of the Clinic, as a member of the National Expert Commission, together with other members, proposed amendments to the Regulation on Waiting Lists to the Commission’s president.
At the University Clinical Centre of Serbia, incorrect data in the National Health Insurance Fund’s waiting lists were also corrected, eliminating improperly formed lists. The management of the Clinic for Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology at the University Clinical Centre of Serbia submitted a draft document to the National Expert Commission defining general, clinical, radiographic, and priority criteria for registering patients on waiting lists for hip and knee endoprostheses.
It was also stated that the Ministry of Health has sent a request to the relevant commissions to promptly provide their opinion on the need to amend or revise the current professional-methodological guidelines, after which the Ministry will begin drafting new guidelines to determine criteria for waiting lists, so that a new Regulation on Waiting Lists can be adopted as soon as possible.
Auditors concluded that the absence of efficient and effective internal controls, as well as the lack of oversight of waiting lists, undermines equality in access to healthcare, weakens trust in the health system, and reduces transparency.
(RTV, 01.10.2025)