In debates and interviews before the election, there are currently completely opposite images of the queues in Swedish healthcare.
The Christian Democrats and the other parties in the Tidö collaboration are talking about a reduction in care queues by more than 40 percent. A number that the Left Party calls "non-serious".
V insists instead that the queues have increased by more than 30 percent.
Confusingly, both sides are right. The answer depends on the time period you are measuring.
The left party has chosen to look at how many people had waited longer than the care guarantee's 90 days in March this year, compared to the same month in 2019. That is, the year before the pandemic.
What conclusions do you think can be drawn from the figure you refer to?
"That the care queues have increased by roughly 30 percent since we last had a normal situation in Swedish healthcare. The shortened care queues that we have seen in recent years are based on an extreme situation during the pandemic," writes the Left Party's press service.
The Christian Democrats have instead looked at the development of the queues since the current government took office in October 2022 and compared the situation then with July 2026, which is the latest available statistics.
The result shows a reduction in care queues by just over 40 percent.
During the pandemic, much surgery and other care, which was not life-saving, was postponed. It built up a healthcare debt – a queue – that healthcare has been working to clear in recent years.
The large reduction in people in queues during this period is still relevant to highlight, according to the Christian Democrats.
Why do you think it is important to use the figure 40 percent in debates and interviews?
"To show what the development looks like. The queues for care are decreasing and have been doing so for a long time. Healthcare, which is the voters' most important issue, deserves a serious and honest debate. At the same time, we are clear that far too many people are still waiting illegally for a long time for care and the work to reduce the queues for care needs to continue," replies Martin Premmert, political expert at the Minister of Health Elisabet Lann (KD).
The parties not only measure different periods, but also have a common problem with their numbers. Both the Left Party and the Christian Democrats exclude data from nine of Sweden's 21 regions in their calculations.
These are regions that have changed or are in the process of changing record systems and therefore cannot guarantee that their queue numbers are 100% correct.
The queuing problem looks different in the country.
Skåne stands out by having the most people in the queue. Sweden's northern regions, which also have problems with accessibility, have the largest proportion of patients who have to wait illegally long for care.
It is Sweden's municipalities and regions (SKR) that is responsible for collecting data on waiting times in care.
- The debate about care queues is often simplified, but the reality is more complex, says Annika Brodin Blomberg, expert in the accessibility of care at SKR.
She does not think that 2022 is "methodologically" a good comparison year.
The queues have decreased. At the same time, the statistics show that the care provided in the regions has only increased marginally by a few percent since 2022, says Annika Brodin Blomberg.
- What you see after the pandemic is not ordinary business. The queue statistics do not answer the big question of whether accessibility in care has improved, she says.
