The Ministry of Health carried out over 49,000 operations through the shock plan in 2025, approximately 5,000 more than the previous year. This growing trend in referrals has been maintained for years, especially since modifications allowed access to this system for pathologies with waiting times exceeding 60 days.
The shock plan, framed within decree 97/1996, was designed to eliminate surgical waiting lists. The regulation, initially promoted under Eduardo Zaplana as president and Joaquín Farnós as Minister of Health, has remained largely unchanged. Through this mechanism, the department led by Marciano Gómez managed to refer 49,234 interventions, accounting for 15.1% of all procedures performed by Valencian public healthcare, a 2.2-point increase from the previous year.
It should be noted that this figure excludes health departments operating under administrative concession, such as Elche-Crevillent and, previously, Manises, Dénia, and Torrevieja. Calculations reveal disparities between departments: La Marina Baixa had the highest recourse to the shock plan (29.4%), followed by Elda (23.9%) and València - Hospital General (23.2%). Other departments like València - Arnau, Gandia, and Alicante - Sant Joan exceeded 20% in referrals.
Conversely, the Provincial Hospital of Castellón referred only 4.1% of its surgical interventions. Dénia (5.9%), Requena (6.8%), València - Dr. Peset (8.4%), València - La Fe (8.8), and Manises (9.6%) also recorded rates below 10%. In absolute terms, the València - Hospital General department led referrals with nearly 4,500 interventions, followed by Alicante, Alicante - Sant Joan, Elda, and València - Arnau, with over 3,000.
Referrals have grown significantly since 2020, when 22,743 surgeries were performed (9.7% of the total). Compared to 2022, the increase has been 66%. The Ministry of Health allocated €270.7 million to referrals between 2024 and 2025: €76.8 million for the shock plan and €193.9 million for non-concerted activity (diagnostic tests, rehabilitation, etc.).
Per capita spending on the shock plan increased by 9.3%, while non-concerted activity decreased by 6.4%, standing at €48.85 per inhabitant over the last two years, despite the absolute increase in expenditure.
Meanwhile, the surgical waiting list closed 2025 with 72,699 patients, a 1.7% decrease from 2024 but an 11.4% increase from 2023. Plastic Surgery (152 days) and Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery (99 days, with 20,643 patients) were the specialties with the longest delays.
The waiting list for a first specialist consultation reached 313,189 people, with Ophthalmology and Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery being the most affected. The CES CV, headed by Fernando Móner, calls for "immediate" measures to prevent the increase from becoming "chronic and structural," requesting "adjustment and expansion of staffing".
The spokesperson for Health of the PSPV in Les Corts, Yaissel Sánchez, described the situation as "critical and unsustainable," pointing to intolerable delays for seeing specialists such as cardiologists (104 days), neurologists (106), traumatologists (105), or ophthalmologists (102).
