‘We need to re-shape what success looks like for our health system’
Health & Social Care president Al Brouard has said that the island may need to change its expectations about health services in the future.
He described increases in demand for services as ‘the ultimate challenge’ and warned of the ‘need to re-shape what success looks like’.
There are two main reasons for increases in demand – advancements in medicine which make more treatments available but often at high cost, and an ageing population which requires more appointments, medication and surgery.
Health bosses believe that healthier lifestyles could mitigate, but not reverse, these increases in demand, and are concerned that even improvements in the performance of services cannot arrest lengthening waiting lists.
‘Last year more people were operated on than ever before, thanks largely to the creation of the de Havilland Unit in late 2022,’ said Deputy Brouard.
‘This unit is dedicated to orthopaedic surgery and resulted in a huge reduction in the number of elective surgeries postponed due to a lack of bed space.
‘Despite this undoubted success story, waiting lists remained relatively static. How can it be that we performed more surgery last year than ever before, yet couldn’t reduce the waiting list?
‘This is because more and more people every year need our help. We cannot control demand, we cannot turn people away.’
Read more in a special news feature in Monday’s Press.
