Gastroenterology ‘blitz’ fails to cut length of waiting list
The waiting list for gastroenterology procedures is now even longer than it was before last summer’s ‘endoscopy blitz’.
A total of 775 people were waiting this time last year, before Health & Social Care partnered with specialist provider Medinet to carry out hundreds of procedures at nine weekend clinics.
About 1,300 gastroenterology procedures were carried out during 2023 – significantly more than ever before – but soaring demand caused by an ageing population and higher health expectations has pushed up the waiting list again, now standing at 815 patients.
HSC’s medical director Dr Peter Rabey revealed that nearly 2,000 people were added to the waiting list last year, which was about 600 more than the year before.
‘At the time of the Scrutiny hearing [early in 2023], we were doing about 100 gastro endoscopies every two months.
‘Since then, we have significantly increased our capacity with two full-time gastroenterologists and a nurse endoscopist.
‘As a result, recently we have managed to do close to 250 cases in two months, but the numbers being added to the endoscopy waiting list continue to increase,’ said Dr Rabey.
The increased number of procedures carried out last year would have met demand completely if the number of referrals had been in line with previous years, and Dr Rabey insisted that it was ‘a real success story’ despite the current length of the waiting list.
Everyone on the waiting list was offered an endoscopy during last summer’s ‘blitz’, but HSC president Al Brouard told the Guernsey Press that his committee did not intend to arrange another one this summer.
‘We do not have plans for a repeat at present, but we continue to work with the Medical Specialist Group to try to identify further opportunities for additional initiatives like those we successfully ran in 2023,’ he said.
‘It is important to note that initiatives such as those we ran last summer are very expensive and, as is widely known, funds are limited.’
The gastroenterology waiting list of 815 people includes day patients and those expected to stay in hospital overnight, and both private patients and those being seen under HSC’s contract with the MSG.
More than 500 patients funded by the States have been waiting for their procedure longer than eight weeks – the maximum time expected under the island’s secondary health insurance scheme.
Nearly 150 have been waiting between six months and one year.
Deputy Brouard will lead HSC politicians and officials into their latest Scrutiny public hearing this afternoon. Waiting lists and the committee’s financial challenges are among the issues likely to be probed by a panel featuring Deputies Yvonne Burford, Simon Fairclough, Andrea Dudley-Owen and Peter Roffey.
