Healthcare wait times have improved, report finds

Healthcare waiting times have improved over the last year, despite increasing numbers of islanders being referred for treatment, the States of Guernsey has said.

A Health and Social Care (HSC) report found the inpatient waiting list fell from 2,799 at the end of 2023 to 2,207 at the end of 2024, a drop of more than 20%.

It also found more than three out of five patients were seen by the Medical Specialist Group (MSG) within the target time of eight weeks, a 1% improvement on the previous year.

MSG Chair Dr Steve Evans said the group was "determined to continue to do all we can with HSC to continue to reduce waiting times".

He said: "While we continue to increase the number of patients we care for, there has been no adverse impact on the standards of care.

"The average length of stay for a patient is just three days (against a target of less than six days) yet our emergency readmission rate is as low as 7% (against a target of less than 10%) which means that we are not discharging patients before they are ready to go home."

Dr Evans said recruiting specialists with the right experience continued to be a top priority.

The HSG said other 2024 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) showed waiting times for radiology were above target with 95% of patients getting an x-ray or scan within six weeks of referral.

Gastroenterology and orthopaedics were the specialities with the longest waiting lists, the HSG added.

The report also highlighted delayed transfers of care days, which measure the time that patients stay in hospital after they are considered fit for discharge, either because a nursing or care home bed is not available or because they need extra care at home, was at 338 days against a target of 100.

Dr Peter Rabey, HSC Medical Director, said: "There are many positives that can be drawn from this latest KPIs report.

"The Emergency Department saw record numbers of admissions but continued to perform well and the number of hospital-acquired infections remains consistently low."

"We cannot control the rising demand for healthcare," he added.

"We do not have infinite financial, staff, ward or theatre resources, but we have created additional capacity through our ophthalmology waiting list initiative and this has had a positive impact."

Dr Rabey said more joint operations were taking place "than ever before" due to dedicated beds at De Havilland ward.

Follow BBC Guernsey on X and Facebook. Send your story ideas to [email protected].