Abstract
In recent years, public authorities have invested large amounts of public money in trying to reduce waiting times for consultations and operations with the aim of improving the quality of the healthcare system. Our research aims to analyze the effect of these investments on patient satisfaction through the mediating relationship of waiting times for consultations and operations, as well as from a gender perspective. By studying a series of key indicators of the Spanish healthcare system and applying partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), the findings show that the model explains 12.10% of the variance in consultant waiting times, 51.90% in operation waiting times, and 27.00% in patient satisfaction. We found that increased public spending leads to increased patient satisfaction by reducing waiting times. However, no gender-based differences were found. The results provide exciting implications for theory and practice, indicating how policymakers can orient their strategies towards improving patient satisfaction.