Wait for a third of ops longer than target time

Last month it emerged that the waiting list for surgery, most of which involved orthopaedic patients, was 1,440 at the end of October, and data from the same period showed that more than 67% of procedures were delivered within eight weeks.

That accounted for 2,373 operations, with the waiting period measured as the time between an outpatient referral and the operation.

That left 33% which were outside of the eight-week timeframe ‘owing to the unique circumstances of 2020’, said a HSC spokesman.

A total of 3,529 operations were delivered by the end of October, of which 24 had a waiting time of more than a year: ‘There could be many reasons for such instances which are specific to an individual patient or management of that particular case.’

‘HSC and the Medical Specialist Group continue to work hard to deliver as many operations as capacity allows, but repeat the fact that off-island options are not currently available for routine surgery and on-island capacity is fixed and maximised.

‘Islanders are assured that any “priority 1 or priority 2” (extremely urgent) surgical demands continue to be delivered without delay now, as they were across the course of the entire 87 days of lockdown.’

Full figures will be published early next year as part of the annual HSC and MSG report on the secondary healthcare contract.

These reports provide details of how the service has performed when measured against the contract’s key performance indicators.

‘When published next year, there will be opportunity to discuss the impact the pandemic has had on secondary healthcare services during 2020, and how the unavoidable disruption experienced has affected what HSC and MSG would otherwise have been able to deliver,’ said the HSC spokesman.

‘HSC and MSG continue to thank islanders awaiting a surgical intervention for their patience during these unprecedented times.’

The spokesman said that HSC and MSG were planning new facilities to cope with future demand as part of the first phase of the hospital modernisation programme.

This is due to start in the middle of the next year and is due to be completed at the end of 2022.

‘This will see the construction of a new critical care unit with a linked patient recovery unit for theatres,’ said the spokesman.

‘This will mean that the Bailiwick will have a larger capacity to support elective surgery that requires high level post-operative support in turn providing an increase to theatre activity.’

Phase two will include a suite of eight operating theatres, integrating new ones with the existing ones which will be refurbished and modernised.

‘These theatres will be supported by a larger more flexible admission and discharge facility that will allow an increase in day surgery and improved inpatient flow,’ said the spokesperson..

‘The hospital modernisation programme will make a considerable contribution towards managing the overall pressures that are arising in respect of the delivery of secondary healthcare for the Bailiwick.’