THERE will be no immediate changes to elective surgery procedures offered in Jersey amid concerns over potential cuts to some operations, the Health Minister has said as he sought to reassure the 3,400 Islanders currently waiting for treatment.
Deputy Tom Binet recently revealed that numerous routine elective procedures – that “may be of limited clinical value” or “may not represent best use of the funds available” – were being reviewed.
The minister also said he would be asking the States Assembly to sanction a “major increase” in funding for the health service, citing pressure to deliver an “efficient, value for money health service” at a time of “sharply rising costs in all areas”.
Figures published ahead of the most recent meeting of the Health Advisory Board showed that elective procedure waiting lists have risen again for the 13th month in a row.
As of 31 July 2025, there were 3,463 patients waiting for an elective admission to hospital across all departments. The median waiting time is currently 17 weeks.
Almost 500 patients have been waiting over a year for their elective procedure.
But Deputy Binet told the JEP that no specific specialisms were being targeted at this stage.
He said: “We’ve been charged with saving money and bringing good value-for-money, so we’re looking everywhere.
“This is just one of the things that’s going on to try and make sure that our financial resources are being best targeted.”
The minister reiterated that the review would only produce recommendations, and “no decisions” had been made yet.
“We’ve not gone into this with a view of targeting anything – it’s just a review,” he said.
“It’ll come up with whatever it comes up with, and then only recommendations will come back.”
Deputy Binet said he expected the review to conclude “this side of Christmas”, but confirmed that in the meantime, “nothing is changing”.
“We’ll give notice of what we do if and when the time comes,” he said.
“But there’s no changes in the foreseeable future.”
The minister also acknowledged the challenge of balancing transparency with public concern over potential service changes.
“You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t,” he said.
“If I don’t tell people that things are under review then, when the review comes out, people say ‘why didn’t you let us know this was under consideration?’.”
Deputy Binet explained he has “tried to be upfront” over the last 18 months in his ministerial role.
“I hated how it was before,” he said. “There was obfuscation, there was a lack of clarity.
“We’re trying to be as open as we can about everything that we’re looking at.”
The Health Minister was also keen to emphasise that any recommendations made following the elective surgery review would require political approval before being implemented.
“They’ll come up with recommendations, and we make a political decision when those recommendations come through,” he said.
“It doesn’t mean that whatever they recommend is going to come through.
“It’s our job, as a ministerial team, to decide what we think is right, but bear in mind that we are under a lot of financial pressure.”
The latest figures showed that Islanders awaiting a routine procedure within theatres “continue to experience extended waits”, particularly in ENT, general surgery, orthopaedic, gynaecology, and bariatric surgery.
It said: “Due to restricted theatre capacity, breakdown in equipment last year and the increase in demand for treating urgent and cancer cases, the waits for routine elective procedures have increased over the last six months.
“As an example, one of the general surgeons is only operating on cancer patients and as such, routine patients are experiencing longer delays.”
The report noted that general surgery currently has the highest number of patients waiting over 52 weeks, as cancer takes precedent over routine elective procedures.
Meanwhile, the wait in orthopaedic was attributed to a lack of theatre capacity.
The report also noted that Jersey’s orthopaedic spinal provision is being “redesigned with an overseas provider”.
The report said the “reduced level of performance” over the last year is a “direct result” of an increase in demand through the emergency department, which reduced available elective procedure capacity.
