PATIENTS are being left in pain because the Hospital is ‘struggling’ to carry out ‘any joint-replacement’ operations due to a lack of beds and too few staff, the JEP has learned.
In a letter sent to an Islander on the waiting list, a Hospital consultant admitted that ‘numerous patients’ were ‘now in considerable trouble with painful joints and progressive disability’ because of delays in carrying out procedures.
Latest figures published by Health and Community Services show 520 patients were on the trauma and orthopaedics elective waiting list at the end of April – an increase of more than 42% compared to November.
Over the same period, figures show a 16% increase in patients waiting for general surgery.
The letter, which was sent by the consultant last month to a patient whose operation had been delayed, states: ‘Unfortunately, we are struggling at the moment to get any joint-replacement work done due to the pressures on the Hospital in terms of staffing and bed availability.
‘I hope that some point in the next month or two we will find a solution and be able to progress with this type of surgery in greater numbers.’
The consultant, whose name this newspaper has elected not to publish, added that ‘you with numerous other patients are now in considerable trouble with your painful joints and progressive disability’.
The consultant declined to comment to the JEP on the letter – understood to have been one of a number sent in recent weeks – or on the situation currently affecting patients.
However, a Health and Community Services Department spokesperson admitted that they have had to reschedule some elective procedures so that they could continue to deal with emergency admissions.
They blamed the situation on the knock-on effect of circumstances outside the Hospital itself.
‘Our elective programme is being affected by a high number of patients who are medically fit for discharge but who are awaiting a placement for ongoing care, such as a nursing-home bed or the start of a domiciliary care package. We need to ensure that we can meet the demand for emergency admissions and so have had to reschedule some elective procedures,’ the spokesperson said.
They added that they ‘review the number of hospital beds continually throughout the working day’, and added: ‘Decisions on the amount of planned care that can be delivered each day are made in conjunction with clinical teams in an agile and fluid way, to ensure we are maximising our ability to provide all services,’ the spokesperson added.
Latest figures published by HCS show that the trauma and orthopaedics waiting list grew from 365 in November last year to 520, reaching a peak of 526 in March this year.
However, the figures also show an improvement in average waiting times for trauma and orthopaedic patients with those classed as routine waiting an average of 17.1 weeks compared with 21.5 weeks in November, and those classed as urgent waiting 3.6 weeks compared with 4.8. However, there was a slight increase in the average wait for those in the ‘soon’ category which rose from 11.1 weeks to 11.9.
Health Minister Richard Renouf, who was in the UK when contacted by the JEP, declined to comment on the situation. Last month, the JEP requested an interview on this subject with Patrick Armstrong, medical director for Health and Community Services, who is currently on leave.
