There have been issues in recent years, with the Princess Elizabeth Hospital going over capacity in March 2024 and again in January 2025, resulting in elective surgeries having to be postponed.
But medical director Peter Rabey said that overall waiting times had improved over the 12 months up to February 2026.
He called the progress ‘a genuine success’, with gastroenterology delivering the strongest gains, with a 25.5% reduction in the inpatient contract list and a 27% reduction in the total list, and orthopaedics also ‘making steady progress’ with inpatient contract numbers down 3% and the total list by 3.6%.
‘These results highlight the effective work under way to expand capacity, with gastroenterology contributing the largest share of the overall reduction,’ said Dr Rabey.
‘While demand for procedures continues to rise, the improvements achieved to date represent a genuine success.’
However, he said further capacity growth would not be possible until Phase 2 of the hospital modernisation project was complete, which would see the creation of additional theatre space.
The total inpatient waiting list stood at 2,116 in February this year, a modest drop from 2,212 at the same time last year.
By contrast, the total fell by more than 20% in 2024, from 2,799 at the end of 2023 to 2,207.
In 2023, HSC partnered with UK company Medinet to run weekend clinics to reduce the waiting list for gastroenterology endoscopy procedures, which had increased from less than 150 patients pre-Covid to 536 at the end of April 2023.
As of mid-February this year, there was a total of 312 patients on the gastroenterology waiting list, down from 428 at the same time last year.
‘The MSG has carried out a comprehensive review of the endoscopy waiting list, including follow‑up scopes and surveillance patients, to ensure appropriate prioritisation,’ said Dr Rabey.
‘Working with primary care, the referral pathway has been refined so patients are directed to the most suitable investigation.
The endoscopy process itself has also been examined to increase throughput and run lists as efficiently as possible.’
The number of patients on the orthopaedic waiting list has dropped from 845 to 814 in the past year.
In October 2022, De Havilland ward was opened as a dedicated orthopaedic ward, using an area of Le Marchant Ward to reduce the backlog of patients awaiting orthopaedic surgery, which was deemed a big success.