Why queues form at the regional diagnostic center: results of public monitoring
6 August 2026 | Uralsk
How can a medical facility's workload be reduced and healthcare made more accessible? These questions became the subject of public monitoring conducted by the Ashyk Kogam Social Development and Innovation Fund.
The monitoring was prompted by numerous complaints from residents of the region on social media. Residents of the West Kazakhstan Region most often complain not about the work of doctors, but about how appointments are organized: long queues, lengthy waits for ultrasound, CT and MRI scans, and appointments with specialists — especially when examinations are conducted under compulsory social health insurance (CSHI).
The results of the monitoring were discussed at a round table at the House of Friendship. Representatives of the West Kazakhstan Region Healthcare Department, the regional multidisciplinary hospital, the regional branch of the Social Health Insurance Fund, public councils, and NGOs took part in the discussion. According to Ruslan Satybaldin, executive director of the Ashyk Kogam Fund and a member of the national coalition "Public Control", the monitoring was conducted at the end of June in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Public Control".
Public monitors assessed the accessibility of medical care, waiting times, patient conditions, quality of service, and compliance with public service standards.
Recommendations from public monitors
According to Ashyk Kogam experts, the workload on the diagnostic center could be reduced by making fuller use of the CSHI system: a patient has the right to choose a medical organization from among providers with a relevant contract, yet not all residents of the region are aware of this. Public monitors proposed:
- placing clear information in polyclinics about medical organizations operating within the CSHI system and the services they provide;
- improving the appointment system so that the scheduled time matches the actual time as closely as possible;
- introducing automatic appointment confirmation — for example, an SMS or WhatsApp message a day before the appointment, so that a freed-up slot can be offered to another patient (a corresponding proposal has already been sent to the developers of the "DamuMed" medical information system);
- providing a short-term stopping area for cars near the diagnostic center so that elderly and low-mobility patients can be dropped off and picked up.
The regional hospital's position
The regional multidisciplinary hospital acknowledges that the problem of queues exists but attributes it to a number of objective reasons. The consultative and diagnostic department serves not only residents of Uralsk but also patients from districts across the region, and each patient's appointment can take a different amount of time. Appointments currently follow a live-queue system: patients check in at reception and then wait outside the specialist's office. The hospital notes that if 20 patients are in the queue and each is accompanied by at least one relative, about 40 people end up in the corridor.
Another reason for the high workload is a shortage of staff. According to Aigul Kulbarakova, head of the department for organizing medical care, public health protection and social health insurance work at the West Kazakhstan Region Healthcare Department, the region lacks more than 150 medical specialists, with the shortage especially acute in rural areas — including general practitioners, surgeons, gynecologists, rheumatologists, gastroenterologists, pulmonologists, and other specialists.
"Sometimes only two or three doctors work for the whole region. Our medical school graduates choose their residency specialization themselves, and we cannot impose our own view on them. In addition, many doctors go on leave in summer, which also affects the queues," noted A. Kulbarakova.
What is already being done
An electronic queue system is already in use at city polyclinics, and there are now plans to pilot it at the diagnostic center as well. The West Kazakhstan Region Healthcare Department reported that all proposals from public monitors have been reviewed and taken into work: heads of medical organizations have been advised to distribute patients more evenly among CSHI service providers and, where indicated, to offer alternative medical organizations, while oversight of the accuracy of patients' contact details, referral processing, and appointment scheduling has been strengthened.
Who is entitled to be seen out of turn
- disabled persons and veterans of the Great Patriotic War;
- disabled persons from military operations;
- patients in need of emergency medical care — at the discretion of a medical worker or doctor.
Queues at the diagnostic center are not a single problem but several combined: a large flow of patients from across the region, a shortage of specialists, doctors' summer leave, the way appointments are organized, and insufficient public awareness of CSHI opportunities. Electronic scheduling, appointment confirmation, distributing patients among CSHI providers, and clear public information are not just convenient services — they are what can make healthcare genuinely more accessible.
Video materials
Video from the round table on the results of public monitoring of healthcare accessibility in the West Kazakhstan Region