Orthopaedic waiting times to be tackled

Friday 08 February 2019

Off-island referrals and Saturday surgeries are going to be used to try and cut down on waiting times for orthopaedic appointments in the short term, while the Princess Elizabeth Hospital could be partially redeveloped to tackle it properly, in the long term.

Both the Committee for Health and Social Care and the Medical Specialist Group have said they're going to work together on this for the sake of waiting patients.

While previously some patients were waiting for longer, both say the work to cut waiting times has already brought them within their "contractual eight week target for orthopaedic outpatient appointments."

The recently released MSG report shows other areas of improvements too. 

Phase two of the plans will see inpatient waiting times also cut.

151 patients on that list at that moment have been waiting more than six months for surgery with fresh efforts to cut the backlog ready to be launched in the coming weeks.

These include plans to use 'off-island partners' and increasing the times that theatres are used - including offering appointments for Saturday surgeries.

Pictured: Some orthopaedic patients have been waiting far too long for their surgeries. 

HSC says letters have been sent to those on the inpatient orthopaedic waiting list to tell them what is happening and to give advice on what to do if they are suffering increased pain or discomfort while waiting for their appointment. If in doubt patients are encouraged to discuss appropriate pain management with their GPs.

HSC says it would also like to reassure patients that this issue affects routine orthopaedic appointments only, as emergency and urgent patients are always given clinical priority. 

Longer term, HSC plans to discuss an "ambitious programme of PEH modernisation" with the States, in March. These plans include increasing capacity within the island's theatres and the critical care unit, all of which it says is essential to increase the number of operations that can be delivered in Guernsey.