A recent European survey by the STADA Health Report 2026 paints a rather bleak picture of the Hungarian healthcare system: only 27% are satisfied with public healthcare, while 79% consider the shortage of healthcare professionals and long wait times to be the biggest problems. At the same time, there is a particularly high level of openness in Hungary toward the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare.
Reviewed by the business portal economx.hu, the Report points out that European healthcare has moved in two seemingly contradictory directions. On the one hand, pressure on the system is growing; on the other, patients are becoming increasingly independent, using digital tools, seeking information on their own, and even incorporating artificial intelligence into the preparation of their healthcare decisions. In Hungary, these two trends converge in a particularly striking way.
79% of Hungarians cited a shortage of healthcare professionals and long wait times as the biggest problems facing the healthcare system. This is significantly higher than the European average of 67% and is one of the highest figures among the countries surveyed. Equally telling is that 61% of Hungarians consider the affordability of health care to be a serious problem, while in Europe this figure stands at 43%.
Another sore spot for Hungarian patients is mental health care. 51% of respondents say access to care is inadequate. Across Europe as a whole, 36% share this view. In other words, not only do Hungarians feel more strongly about waiting lists and the shortage of specialists, but far more of them also perceive shortcomings in the mental health care system.
Hungarians are already using AI for healthcare purposes at a rate roughly in line with the European average; at the same time, our openness to its use ranks among the highest: 87% of Hungarians are open to artificial intelligence playing a role in healthcare, compared to the European average of 82%.
However, this does not mean that Hungarians would replace doctors with an algorithm. One of the report’s most important findings is precisely that openness toward AI does not go hand in hand with a loss of trust in doctors. In Europe, 77% continue to rely on primary care physicians and other healthcare professionals when making healthcare decisions, while pharmacists are considered an important source of support by 57% of those surveyed.
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