The figures, released to the JEP this week, show that Islanders needing general surgery face a 26-week wait for an outpatient appointment, then up to six months for surgery. That is double the Hospital’s own target of 13 weeks from GP referral to outpatient appointment, and much higher than the NHS target of 18 weeks from GP referral to surgery.
Andrew McLaughlin, the Hospital’s interim director, blamed the problem on a small population, staff shortages, including pending retirements, and issues regarding the recruiting and retaining of staff.
He stressed that the problem of having four doctors currently on restricted duties had not affected the waiting list times, which he said had come down from even higher figures four months ago. He added that cancer patients were seen within two weeks.
