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A new unit has been opened at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital amid efforts to try and cut down the waiting list for elective orthopaedic surgeries, which currently stands at 652 people.
The nine-bed de Havilland unit has been opened within the existing Le Marchant Ward.
Patients admitted to the new unit will be cared for in an area of 'ring-fenced' beds, which follows best practice elsewhere proven to keep infection rates low.
Pictured: Deputy Mark Leadbeater opened the unit this month.
Elaine Burgess, Associate Director Acute Care said this demonstrates the commitment made by Health and Social Care to reduce the current backlog of 652 patients awaiting orthopaedic surgery.
"The new unit follows best practice in orthopaedic surgery where beds are ring- fenced to reduce infection rates. Sharing a ward with other non-elective surgery increases the risk of infection which can be very serious for orthopaedic patients and increase their length of stay in hospital."
Deputy Marc Leadbeater, who is a Member the Committee for Health and Social Care was asked to open the new de Havilland unit.
"Whilst we have been unable to have an ‘official’ opening because the Hospital has measures in place to limit COVID-19 infections, I was pleased to be able to visit the ward this week when it was handed over to staff by the Estates Team and before patients arrived," he said.
"This new unit will only have elective orthopaedic patients which we hope will see a reduction in postponements as beds will be ring-fenced for a specific purpose."
Pictured: The current waiting list for orthopaedic surgery has not been confirmed at the time of writing.
Elective orthopaedic surgery is defined by the NHS as "planned surgery, primarily to replace the main bony joints, such as hip, knee and shoulders, and for repairs to the associated tissue".
Earlier this year, there were around 760 people waiting for orthopaedic surgeries of some sort, meaning the waiting list has decreased by just over 100 in less than six months.
Deputy David de Lisle had asked about it during the May States Meeting, at which time the President of HSC, Deputy Al Brouard said that the figures for April, showed there were about 2,300 on HSC waiting lists for a variety of interventions. He said that "gastroenterology is one of the larger ones and orthopaedics is the largest at about 762 patients."
This week that waiting list is 652 patients.
Pictured: Deputy Al Brouard is President of HSC.
Further efforts to reduce all waiting lists, including that for orthopaedic surgery have included scheduling surgeries for Saturdays, increasing surgery times during the week, and by opening a second surgery.
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