THE government is considering sending Jersey patients to UK hospitals for operations in an effort to cut waiting times.
Health Minister Karen Wilson said that officials from her department were currently discussing options with British providers about admitting patients from the Island.
Since becoming a minister in July, Deputy Wilson has highlighted waiting times as one of her leading priorities.
She said: ‘We are exploring all sorts of options to get people accessing care and treatment – when you have the sort of backlog that we’ve seen from the Covid pandemic, then you have got to look at alternatives.’
The discussions should be completed by the end of this month, Deputy Wilson explained, with the results being shared in the new year.
NHS trusts are grappling with their own sky-high waiting lists, with NHS England recently described as at ‘breaking point’ by GPs. Around 7.2 million people were awaiting routine treatment earlier this month – the highest figure since records began.
Deputy Wilson cited ophthalmology and rheumatology as two areas where she was particularly keen to see a reduction in waiting times, but added that options in all specialities would be considered.
Last month, the Health Department expressed cautious optimism that hospital waiting times had peaked and were beginning to drop. At the time officials said 2,156 people were awaiting admission for in-patient treatment, a reduction of 74 on the record high seen during September.
In ophthalmology, which covers eye disorders such as cataracts, glaucoma and retinal diseases, the wait for routine cases was 28.4 weeks in September, two weeks less than those classed as requiring treatment soon, while urgent cases faced a wait of 6.9 weeks.
During a quarterly hearing with the Health and Social Services Scrutiny Panel earlier this month, Deputy Wilson moved to reassure members of the panel that patients would only be referred to UK facilities which met recognised regulatory standards for delivering safe care.
‘What I want to give Islanders every assurance about is that we will not commission any service under my ministerial responsibility that does not meet the required standard,’ she said.
‘The most important thing is that we get people into providers that have recognised standards that are approved and can deliver the outcomes that we want for the price that we want – there is no question that any of the providers that we will use will be of poor quality.’
Caroline Landon, director general of the Health Department, said that the discussions with UK providers had been going on for the past four months, and were currently focused on the tariff of fees that would be payable.
Ms Landon said that the Island’s medical director had been liaising with his UK counterparts in an effort to ensure that minimum standards of quality were met.
Exploring options outside of Jersey is part of a £5 million package of initiatives included in the Government Plan to reduce waiting lists. Deputy Wilson said that other elements of the drive to reduce delays included data-cleansing – detecting, correcting or removing inaccurate records – and changes to working patterns aimed at increasing productivity.
