HEALTH bosses have admitted they are “not comfortable” with the scale of year-long surgery waits affecting over 700 Islanders – as they prepare to set aside up to £2.3 million to clear the backlog.
An Elective Waiting List Recovery Plan is due to be presented to the Health and Care Jersey Advisory Board this week. It sets out a proposals to clear the backlog of patients waiting more than a year for operations in orthopaedics and general surgery.
The board acknowledged it is “not comfortable” with the scale of year-long waits, with concerns raised about psychological harm, pain, and worsening physical mobility for patients left in limbo.
It noted that routine patients are being “pushed back” as “urgent and suspected cancer pathways are prioritised”.
As of 29 January 2026, a total of 722 Islanders had been waiting more than a year for elective surgery, with the largest numbers in general surgery (309) and orthopaedics (262).
But under proposed changes, year-long waits in these departments would be eliminated by March 2027 and September 2026 respectively.
The report warns that maintaining current capacity would “significantly worsen waiting times”, adding that long waits increase the risk of “avoidable patient harm”.
Four recovery scenarios were modelled over a two-year period. The “do nothing” option would see the number of orthopaedic patients waiting more than a year projected to reach 502 within two years.
Even sticking within the current budget – the so-called “do minimum” option – would not eliminate year-long waits until 2029 or later.
Instead, senior leaders have backed what is described as “do minimum plus additional lists”. This would mean additional theatre sessions – including public operations on a Saturday – targeted directly at the backlog.
In orthopaedics, 26 extra Saturdays between June and December 2026 would deliver an additional 224 procedures. In general surgery, 22 Saturdays would provide 180 extra operations.
The additional staffed theatre time is estimated to cost around £650,000 for general surgery and £1.65 million for orthopaedics, a combined total of approximately £2.3m.
The report warns that failure to invest could lead to waiting list growth of between 31% and 125% over two years.
A total of £1.5 million is proposed to be ringfenced immediately to allow planning and mobilisation to begin, with further allocations dependent on detailed cost modelling and the department’s financial performance in the first quarter of 2026.
The way patients are prioritised is also under review, with the board papers revealing that the the categories of “urgent”, “soon” and “routine” have evolved and may not always be applied consistently.
As waits lengthen, clinicians’ concern can lead to escalation into higher-priority categories, further squeezing routine capacity.
Work is now under way to move to clearer classifications, including a distinct “suspected cancer” category, and to remove the “soon” label altogether, within the first quarter of 2026.
