Patients in Turkey are waiting months for some medical tests, including heart scans and endoscopies, even as government data show hospitals are handling record numbers of appointments and reporting short average wait times.
The issue drew renewed attention this week after a social media post said a patient at Gazi University Hospital in Ankara was given an appointment for a coronary CT angiography exam on April 15, 2027.
The case comes amid broader complaints about long waits for diagnostic procedures in public hospitals, particularly in cardiology, oncology and other specialized fields.
According to reports by the Turkish BirGün media outlet, patients in some hospitals are waiting months for examinations such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound scans, mammography and endoscopy. Some patients say they have turned to private hospitals to avoid delays.
The Health Ministry said in December that the Centralized Physician Appointment System (MHRS) had scheduled 388,095,539 appointments in 2025, with an average of about 1.7 million appointments per day.
Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu said during a November 21 budget presentation that average appointment times for diagnostic tests were nine days for MRI scans, two days for computed tomography scans and five days for Doppler ultrasound examinations.
İstanbul Medical Chamber President Talat Kırış warned that delays in tests such as coronary CT angiography could carry health risks because the results may reveal conditions requiring urgent intervention.
Turkey also ranks near the bottom of the OECD in physician density. OECD data show the country has approximately 2.4 doctors per 1,000 people, compared to an OECD average of 3.9. Nurse numbers are also significantly below the OECD average.