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APPROVED
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES BY THE DEPUTY OF ST. JOHN
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 18TH APRIL 2017
Question
Would the Minister provide an update on waiting list times for procedures in the Hospital and advise what impact, if any, the new hospital build is expected to have on waiting lists for patients?
Answer
The April 1st 2017 position for waiting times for procedures in the hospital is:
Specialty | Average wait in weeks for a procedure April 17 |
Ears Nose and Throat (ENT) | 8 |
Gastroenterology | 13 |
General Surgery | 8 |
Gynaecology | 6 |
Ophthalmology | 11 |
Oral Surgery | 7 |
Orthopaedics | 14* |
Pain | 8 |
Urology | 5 |
*The Orthopaedic team has worked hard to reduce the number facing long waits for surgery. There are now only 39 patients waiting over 90 days, compared to over 250 two years ago. Once these long waits have been eliminated, the average wait will decrease.
The length of time a patient may wait does vary by specialty and varies each week within specialties. The variation is driven by:
Number of available consultants
Number of referrals received
Number of patients being added to the procedure list Bank Holidays
Time of the year
Number of patient cancellations
The new hospital will provide an environment that will facilitate the smooth flow of patients through Departments and provide additional capacity in terms of equipment, beds and theatres. Therefore:
- more patients will be able to be treated as day cases – making the surgical process more efficient
- increased capacity in diagnostics will speed up tests
- new layouts and treatment areas will offer opportunities for rapid assessment and treatment ie ambulatory emergency care and interventional radiology
- there will be sufficient capacity to appoint new staff as demand dictates and investment allows
- the environment will better meet the needs of more vulnerable patients, for example, those with dementia. This will shorten their time spent in the hospital, releasing capacity for increased throughput.
These initiatives need to be considered alongside the anticipated increases in demand generated by the ageing population.