Sweden appoints committee to help cut waiting time for healthcare

The Swedish government will appoint a care committee aimed to shorten waiting time for people in need of care services, reported Xinhua, quoting local media on Thursday.

The committee will have several tasks on its table and will be led by physician Gunilla Gunnarsson, Swedish Television (SVT) quoted Minister for Health and Social Affairs Lena Hallengren as saying.

"It will cooperate with the regions and support their work in developing regional plans for shorter waiting time. It will also support more efficient resource appropriations in healthcare so that more people can receive care on time," said the minister.

She said such committee would also submit proposals for new nationally-coordinated healthcare guidance and investigate the pros and cons of a new care guarantee.

SVT reported earlier that as many as 70,000 operations in Sweden had been canceled during the pandemic, and in many regions the queues for operations continued to grow.

According to the Swedish Medical Association, if the pandemic continues, there is a risk that 200,000 operations can be canceled this year.