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WQ.267/2022
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES BY DEPUTY G.P. SOUTHERN OF ST. HELIER CENTRAL
QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 7th NOVEMBER 2022
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 14th NOVEMBER 2022
Question
“Further to the response to Written Question 204/2022, will the Minister advise what actions she is considering to ensure that waiting lists for ophthalmic interventions, including relatively simple cataract operations which can have a considerable impact on the lives of elderly people, are significantly reduced; and will she undertake to set targets for such reductions and to report on the success of meeting these targets to the Assembly on a regular basis?”
Answer
When a referral for ophthalmic treatment is received at the General Hospital, they are clinically triaged by the ophthalmology consultants as either, rejected, urgent, soon, or routine. Patients are then added on to the appropriate outpatient waiting list dependant on both clinical priority and sub speciality.
The ophthalmology department have changed the theatre allocation to ensure the capacity in theatre utilisation is managed efficiently to maximise cataract surgery.
All waiting list data is already made publicly available and reported on regularly and can be found on gov.je here.
With regard to ophthalmic waiting lists specifically, the following action is being taken: an ophthalmologist is now in a full-time substantive post in the department. There are more interviews for Doctors to take place this November.
This staffing will support clinical activity to focus on NEW routine referrals whilst continuing to manage the emergency, urgent and soon activity and ongoing treatment of patients already under the care of the ophthalmology department.