How Long Do Israelis Wait to See a Specialist?
290,105 Clalit appointments were booked more than 90 days ahead, on the State Comptroller’s November 2024 audit of waiting times.
290,105 appointments at Clalit were booked more than 90 days ahead, the State Comptroller of Israel reported in its November 2024 audit of waiting times for specialist medical services. The same audit records 513,517 such bookings at Maccabi. The counts are of appointments booked, taken from fund-reported appointment data, and the audit publishes no average wait and no combined national figure.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 290,105 | Appointments booked more than 90 days ahead, Clalit, later endpoint | November 2024 audit |
| 221,573 | Appointments booked more than 90 days ahead, Clalit, earlier endpoint | November 2024 audit |
| 513,517 | Appointments booked more than 90 days ahead, Maccabi, later endpoint | November 2024 audit |
| 360,010 | Appointments booked more than 90 days ahead, Maccabi, earlier endpoint | November 2024 audit |
| 954 | Insured adults covered by the Comptroller’s own survey, 74% response rate | November 2024 audit |
| 72% | Share of the 954 surveyed adults who had needed a specialist in the past year | Past year to the survey |
| 15.4 weeks | Mean wait for a child’s tonsillectomy in public hospitals, median 15 weeks | 2022 |
| 553 | Children waiting for inpatient or day psychiatric treatment | April 2022 |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, Waiting Times for Specialist Medical Services (November 2024) and Children’s Hospitalization in Hospitals (May 2023).
The Comptroller counts 290,105 Clalit bookings more than 90 days ahead
The State Comptroller of Israel recorded appointments booked more than 90 days ahead at Clalit rising from 221,573 to 290,105, a rise of about 31%. The quantity counted is an appointment placed in a fund’s booking system beyond a 90-day threshold, drawn from the fund’s own reported appointment data and published by the Comptroller in November 2024. It is not a measured waiting time and not a count of individual patients, so one person with several bookings appears more than once.
Maccabi’s over-90-day bookings rose to 513,517, about 43%
The State Comptroller reported the same measure at Maccabi rising from 360,010 to 513,517, about 43%. Each fund is counted separately on its own reported booking data, the two funds cover insured populations of different sizes, and the audit publishes no combined total for them.
The Comptroller’s survey covered 954 insured adults, 72% needing a specialist
Alongside the fund-reported booking data, the State Comptroller of Israel ran its own survey of insured adults. The Comptroller reported a base of 954 adults at a 74% response rate, of whom 72% had needed a specialist in the past year. Those two figures are the Comptroller’s own survey findings on that base of 954, a different kind of number from the funds’ administrative booking counts, and they are not a national measurement.
The mean wait for a child’s tonsillectomy was 15.4 weeks
A separate audit measures waits for hospital treatment rather than for a specialist appointment. The State Comptroller published a mean wait of 15.4 weeks for a child’s tonsillectomy in public hospitals in 2022, with a median of 15 weeks, and counted 553 children waiting in April 2022 for inpatient or day psychiatric treatment.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 15.4 weeks | Mean wait, child’s tonsillectomy, public hospitals | 2022 |
| 15 weeks | Median wait, same procedure | 2022 |
| 553 | Children waiting for inpatient or day psychiatric treatment | April 2022 |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, Children’s Hospitalization in Hospitals, May 2023.
No national average wait by specialty appears in these audits
Neither audit answers the question by specialty or by place. The State Comptroller published no average wait per specialty, no national mean across the health funds, and no regional breakdown in the November 2024 waiting-times audit or in the May 2023 children’s hospitalization audit.
- No mean or median wait for a named specialty such as gastroenterology, orthopaedics or dermatology.
- No single national average wait combining the health funds.
- No district or city breakdown of waiting.
Which figures here may not be added together?
The four over-90-day counts are appointments booked, not patients waiting, and the State Comptroller reported them per fund on the funds’ own reported data. Clalit and Maccabi are counted separately and the audit publishes no combined figure, so the two may not be summed into a national total. The 954-adult figures come from the Comptroller’s own survey and belong to that base of 954, not to the insured population. The tonsillectomy and psychiatric-queue figures come from a different audit, cover 2022 and April 2022, and measure hospital treatment rather than a specialist appointment.
Questions readers ask
How many specialist appointments were booked more than 90 days ahead?
The State Comptroller of Israel recorded 290,105 at Clalit and 513,517 at Maccabi in its November 2024 audit, each on that fund’s own reported appointment data.
Do these figures count people or appointments?
They count appointments. The State Comptroller published them as appointments booked more than 90 days ahead, so one person with several bookings is counted more than once.
Can the two funds’ counts be added together?
The State Comptroller reported them separately and published no combined figure, and the funds cover insured populations of different sizes.
Does the State Comptroller publish an average wait?
The November 2024 audit publishes no average wait for a specialist appointment. What the State Comptroller published is the number of appointments booked beyond a 90-day threshold.
How much did the over-90-day bookings rise?
The State Comptroller recorded a rise of about 31% at Clalit, from 221,573 to 290,105, and about 43% at Maccabi, from 360,010 to 513,517.
How large was the Comptroller’s survey?
The State Comptroller reported a survey of 954 insured adults at a 74% response rate, published with the November 2024 audit.
What share of surveyed adults had needed a specialist?
The State Comptroller reported that 72% of the 954 adults surveyed had needed a specialist in the past year.
How long is the wait for a child’s tonsillectomy?
The State Comptroller published a mean of 15.4 weeks and a median of 15 weeks in public hospitals in 2022, in its May 2023 audit of children’s hospitalization.
How many children were waiting for psychiatric treatment?
The State Comptroller counted 553 children waiting for inpatient or day psychiatric treatment in April 2022.
Do the audits break waiting down by specialty or by region?
Neither audit publishes a wait by named specialty, a national mean across the funds, or a regional breakdown.
Has the State Comptroller published doctor staffing gaps elsewhere?
In its May 2022 follow-up audit of the medical system for inmates in the Israel Prison Service, the State Comptroller recorded 71 physician posts of which 17.25 were unfilled, and 3 of 43 clinic doctors holding board certification.
Do these audits say what Israel spends on health?
The waiting-times audit publishes no expenditure figure. What Israel spends on health and education is published in separate releases.
Sources
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2022. The Medical System for Treating Inmates in the Israel Prison Service, Follow-up Audit. Chapter 210, Ministry of Public Security and Israel Prison Service, May 2022. library.mevaker.gov.il. Official or primary record.
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2023. Children’s Hospitalization in Hospitals. Ministry of Health chapter, May 2023. fs.knesset.gov.il. Official or primary record.
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2024. Waiting Times for Specialist Medical Services. Chapter 601, annual report 75A part B, November 2024. library.mevaker.gov.il. Official or primary record.
