Waiting list 'blitz' is welcome
THE States has warned that it could be expensive, but the decision to go out to tender to find UK specialists and theatre teams willing to come to the island for weekends to ‘blitz’ waiting lists, as reported yesterday, has got to be welcomed.
We, among others, have already said that seemingly ever-growing waiting lists in various health disciplines are unsustainable. And it’s not a new phenomenon. But it seems that since the Covid lockdowns, the health service has been unable to get a grip in this area.
Lack of challenge from politicians on this topic has been surprising, but now Deputy Rob Prow has pushed Health & Social Care for an update, and signs of action look mildly promising.
When expected, indeed, contracted, waiting times for operations are routinely overshot, and nobody seems culpable or held responsible for improvements, that is a cause for concern.
The model of bringing over UK specialists to do a number of operations over the course of a few days was once seen as a decent option for Guernsey, rather than recruiting and employing specialists locally, who then did not get enough exposure to their specialism.
That appears to have fallen away, but if the trial for a weekend’s worth of endoscopies proves successful, and in the current recruitment market, that could prove to be a realistic prospect for the future.